President of basketball operations Brad Stevens started off the week adding context to the Celtics’ recent playoff elimination at the hands of the Knicks, as he explained how Kristaps Porzingis battled through a “post-viral syndrome” during the final stretch of the campaign.
Before Monday’s press conference, the Boston club had described the Latvian’s condition as an upper respiratory illness, that caused him to miss eight-straight matches during February and March, which then extended all the way into postseason.
“I don’t think anyone was more frustrated than him,” Stevens shared after losing the semifinal series to New York. “And I felt for him because the way it was described to me was just post-viral syndrome, which is just lingering effects of a long illness.”
“I thought he had really turned the corner there towards the end of the regular season,” Brad added. “When we went to Madison Square Garden, he was so good. And then even in the first round. And then for whatever reason, he just didn’t feel as good there early in the Knicks series and never really felt great.”
Kristaps wasn’t himself during the conference semifinals, just averaging 4.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and half an assist per contest. For the entire campaign, however, he did tally a total of 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
Playing through his reduced role, he came off the bench in four of the seven games against the Knicks, averaging only 15.5 minutes. The Celtics center never played more than 24 minutes in a single match, which seems like he gradually played less and less, instead of improving game by game.
“For a week, [I was] really just laying at home, trying to recover,” Porzingis said back on March 15. “And then after that, I still had lingering fatigue. And, I still have it a little bit, but at least now, I’m getting into, more or less, shape to be able to play. But yeah, after each workout, I was — boom, big crash.”
