Boston Celtics centre Kristaps Porzingis is on track to make his season debut Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers following offseason ankle surgery.
The team announced the 7-foot-2 Latvian center has been upgraded to probable for Monday’s game. He had surgery to fix a tear in the tissue that holds the ankle tendons in place. The issue limited him to seven playoff games during the Celtics NBA championship run last season.
The original window for his return following surgery was 5-to-6 months. But Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said before the season that they didn’t want to hold to specific timeline because of the uniqueness of the injury. Now it’s looking like a return before Thanksgiving.
Porzingis injured his ankle in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks and missed the next two games. He returned for Game 5, contributing five points and one rebound in 16 minutes as the Celtics beat Dallas 106-88 to clinch their record 18th title. Porzingis averaged 20 points and seven rebounds in 57 games for the Celtics last season.
Boston is 14-3 this season, but has missed his presence on the inside, with teams routinely outscoring the defending champions in the paint.
He signed a $60 million, two-year extension with Boston in the summer of 2023 after the Celtics acquired him in a trade with Washington.