Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis Addresses Idea Of Minutes Restriction

The biggest worry for Kristaps Porzingis before his debut Celtics season was how he would hold up over an 82-game season.

The 28-year-old missed five of Boston’s first 20 games of the season, and Porzingis had an injury scare before the NBA season when he played with Team Lativa in the FIBA World Cup.

While Porzingis hasn’t suffered a serious long-term injury, it’s still cause for concern for the Celtics considering how much the veteran big man raises Boston’s ceiling. However, Porzingis doesn’t plan on being limited through the regular season.

“I’m not a big fan of the minutes restriction,” Porzingis told reporters Wednesday, per MassLive’s Souichi Terada. “I always, when I’m back, I want to be back and play full minutes. But we’ll see. Of course, they have a plan and we’ll see what kind of feedback I get after today and go from there.”

Heading into Friday’s matchup against the New York Knicks, Porzingis missed four games due to a left calf strain. It’s only natural for a player to want to be given a full run of minutes, and it will be up to Joe Mazzulla and his staff to determine how to manage Porzingis throughout the season with wanting Porzingis at full strength at the forefront.