Despite targeting Monday night's Game 4 for his return, Kristaps Porzingis still isn't ready to take the court.
The Boston Celtics announced on Sunday afternoon that Porzingis will not play in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference finals series against the Indiana Pacers. Porzingis hasn’t played since their opening-round series against the Miami Heat when he first went down with a calf injury.
Though he was already ruled out for the first few games of the series against the Celtics, the team was hoping that Porzingis could make his return in Monday's contest at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. He has been "accelerating his on-court ramp up" in recent days in order to make his return, too.
It’s unclear if there was a setback in his recovery, or if Porzingis simply isn’t ready to play yet.
Porzingis has averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds this season with the Celtics. He’s shot a career-high 51.6% from the field, too.
With Porzingis out on Monday night, his next opportunity will be in Game 5 in Boston on Wednesday night. The Celtics hold a 3-0 lead in the series, however, and could close it out on Monday. That would not only send the Celtics to their second NBA Finals in the past three years, but it would give Porzingis even more time to recover.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.