Boston Celtics Player Officially Ruled Out For Game 1 Against Pacers

On Tuesday evening, the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers will play Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Massachusetts.

For the game, the Celtics will officially be without Kristaps Porzingis.

The 2018 NBA All-Star has missed each of the previous six games, so this will be his seventh straight out of the starting lineup.

Via Zack Cox of NESN: “The Celtics officially ruled out Kristaps Porzingis for Game 1 tomorrow night. Seventh straight DNP for him.

Joe Mazzulla today said Porzingis is “working really hard to come back as fast as he can” but wasn’t ready to begin practicing with the team.”

The Celtics did not have Porzingis in their second round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they were still able to win in just five games.

He is in his first year with the Celtics, and finished the regular season with averages of 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 blocks per contest while shooting 51.6% from the field and 37.5% from the three-point range in 57 games.

They are the first seed in the Eastern Conference and had the best record in the NBA (64-18).

As for the Pacers, they beat the New York Knicks in the second round (in seven games).

Whoever wins the series will advance to the NBA Finals and face off against either the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

That series will begin on Wednesday evening in Minnesota.

Porzingis is in his ninth season in the NBA and has also spent time with the Wizards, Mavs and Knicks.