Celtics fans collectively hold their hearts in their mouths.
Kristaps Porzingis went down with an ankle injury scare for title favourite Boston during the team’s 143-110 away win against Miami on Friday (all times AEDT).
Porzingis midway through the third term landed awkwardly on his ankle after attempting to block Bam Adebayo’s shot before being helped to the locker room.
In a potential good sign for the Celtics though, Porzingis later returned to the team’s and appeared to be in good spirtis alongside his teammates. He wasn’t wearing a moonboot.
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No matter, it’s a less than ideal development for such a key piece to the team’s dominant 34-10 start to the season, with the off-season additions of Porzingis and Jrue Holiday proving to be huge coups.
Plus, any time Porzingis goes down, there’s some level of concern, for the Latvian big man has been riddled by injuries throughout his career. Over his last four seasons, Porzingis has played 65, 17, 34 and 43 games respectivley.
He’s averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks from 32 appearances this campaign.
It mattered not for Friday’s game, with Jayson Tatum’s 26 points leading seven Celtics – including all five starters – in double figures as the NBA’s No. 1 seed improved to 35-10 on the season.
ELSEWHERE …
The New York Knicks have claimed their biggest scalp yet in the OG Anunoby era, destroying the reigning champion Denver at home 122-84 for their fifth-straight victory in a huge statement.
Anunoby had arguably his best game yet as a Knick, scoring a team-high 26 points n 10-of-18 shooting with three triples and six steals. Jalen Brunson added 21 points and four assists.
With it, the Knicks improved to 11-2 – and 28-17 overall –since acquiring Anunoby earlier this month including big wins over Philadelphia and Minnesota.
Nikola Jokic racked up 31 points and 11 rebounds, but Aaron Gordon (12 points) was the only other Nugget to score in double figures.
It wasn’t the only upset on Friday, though not as one-sided, the Indiana Pacers took down the Philadelphia 76ers 134-122 despite being without Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring).
Pascal Siakam tallied a triple-double (26 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) in his best game for a Pacer since joining the team last wee and Myles Turner chipped in 20 points, nine boards and two blocks.
Joel Embiid top-scored in the game with 31 points to go with seven rebounds.
“We just didn’t have any kind of defensive success,” admitted Sixers coach Nick Nurse.
Siakam’s first win since he was traded from Toronto last week came against his former Raptors coach Nurse.
“He’s shown what he can do,” Pacers center Myles Turner said of Siakam. “He sees the floor well — obviously he had a triple-double tonight.
“He plays with a lot of passion and energy. He fits right into our mold.”
ALL RESULTS
JAZZ 123 WIZARDS 108
SIXERS 122 PACERS 134
CELTICS 143 HEAT 110
NUGGETS 84 KNICKS 122
TIMBERWOLVES 96 NETS 94
KINGS 134 133 WARRIORS
BULLS 132 141 LAKERS