Kristaps Porzingis comes off bench in Game 3 after ominous health report

NEW YORK For the second straight contest Saturday night Kristaps Porzingis filled the unfamiliar role of bench athlete for the Celtics With the big man still feeling the effects of the viral illness he contracted in late February head coach Joe Mazzulla opted to start Al Horford and limit Porzingis minutes in Challenge against the New York Knicks just as he did in Boston s Competition loss three nights earlier Though Porzingis was a super-sub for the Celtics during last year s NBA Finals when he was dealing with lower leg injuries he entered this second-round series having started all but four of the games he d played over his -year NBA career Porzingis shooting struggles persisted Saturday after an -for- showing he s now shooting from the field and from three this postseason but he was impactful as a rim protector with three blocks and four rebounds The Celtics outscored the Knicks by points over his minutes the best mark of any bench sportsman en journey to a - domination at Madison Square Garden He gave us specific good stuff Mazzulla reported Both ends of the floor rim protection his screening offensively everybody got chosen good stuff out of that I appreciate him Keep battling through Mazzulla revealed before the meeting that Porzingis felt better on Friday and would give it a go Related Articles Jayson Tatum shares candid perspective on spotlight after Celtics Encounter win Celtics embrace darkness blow out Knicks in much-needed Contest win Celtics rule out rotation participant for pivotal Meeting vs Knicks We have to win Celtics title defense hinges on pivotal Event at MSG Jayson Tatum admits mistake on final play takes full ownership of struggles Though the exact nature of Porzingis illness has not been shared ESPN s Shams Charania shared new details about his condition during the grid s pregame coverage He felt that he had certainly turned a corner right as the playoffs started in mid-April but in his own words he had a crash right before Meeting of this series Charania commented He s tried a lot of different things to try to mitigate the side effects I m stated he s been receiving IVs immune boosters He s even changed up his sleep patterns to try to get more rest He s essentially waking up every day hoping and praying that he feels better Porzingis disclosed after Match on Wednesday that he s just not feeling his best and that it just kills him inside that it s happening in this moment Though he s appeared in all eight of the Celtics playoff games he has not logged more than minutes since Encounter of Boston s first-round series against Orlando and has been sub- in all three Knicks matchups Because of the type of talent that he is and who he is as a competitor you d rather have him and you feel his absence because of his versatility and what he s able to do on both ends of the floor Mazzulla explained on Thursday Our depth is a strength of what we have At the same time to have a guy like KP you want to have him as much as you can So we ll look at KP to try to do that and I know he s doing what he can to make sure he s available Horford picked up the slack by playing minutes in Challenge The -year-old went -for- from the field and -for- from three finishing with points nine rebounds one assist and two blocks