BOSTON — While all eyes will be on Kristaps Porzingis’ status heading into the Celtics’ Game 2 against the Knicks, they picked up another injury in Sam Hauser. The reserve forward was forced to leave the Game 1 loss early due to a right ankle sprain.
At this point, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Hauser is day-to-day with the injury. So that means the C’s were forced to close out Game 1 without two rotation players, though Hauser didn’t play in the first half Monday.
“Everything was just about the matchups and the sub patterns,” Mazzulla said. “Everything got changed with foul trouble and matching certain sub patterns for them, so you work to do that throughout a game.”
The Celtics entered the second round against the Knicks fully healthy with nobody listed on the injury report. Jayson Tatum (wrist) and Jaylen Brown (knee) played through their respective injuries against the Magic. Jrue Holiday (hamstring) also returned from a three-game absence, so things all seemed alright.
But these new injuries for Porzingis and Hauser are the latest setbacks. Hauser only played in four minutes in Game 1 after the ankle injury caused him to leave the game. He’s been a consistent rotation player for the C’s, so even though he didn’t play in the first half, any lingering issue will affect Boston’s depth going forward.
The Celtics will look to bounce back after their shocking Game 1 overtime loss to the Knicks. They were up by 20 points midway through the third quarter only to cough up the lead. The C’s set an NBA playoffs record with 45 missed 3-pointers as the Knicks capitalized on those misses.
“We talk about managing expectations, it’s not supposed to go a certain way,” Mazzulla said. “Every series is different. Every season is different. You just have to manage the expectations and focus on the things that you know you can control within a game. And that’s just kind of how the playoffs are, is the ability to handle those moments.”
