Celtics vs Knicks Game 6 Injury Report: Will Kristaps Porzingis Play Tonight?

Knicks and Celtics fans, buckle up! Tonight is HUGE. We’re talking Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, and the New York Knicks are on the verge, holding a 3-2 series lead with a chance to send the Boston Celtics packing and crash the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in what feels like forever – 25 years, to be exact! But hold up, because the Celtics, even with their backs against the wall and missing their main man Jayson Tatum, showed us in Game 5 that they’re not just gonna roll over.

The Celtics absolutely demolished the Knicks 127-102 back in Boston, proving they’ve still got that championship fight. So now, heading into the electric atmosphere of MSG, every single player’s status is a massive deal, and for the Celtics, everyone’s been wondering: what’s the deal with Kristaps Porzingis? His health has been a rollercoaster this series, a real head-scratcher, and whether he’s truly ready to go could be the decider between a Game 7 match or an early summer for Boston.

The injury report: Will Kristaps Porzingis play? 

Okay, Celtics Nation, here’s a bit of good news you’ve been waiting for: Kristaps Porzingis is officially good to go for tonight’s monster Game 6. He’s not on the injury report, which is a big relief for a Boston team that needs all hands on deck.

Remember Game 5? KP only played 12 minutes because, as Coach Mazzulla put it, the big fella “couldn’t breathe” thanks to some lingering viral illness. Having him available, and hopefully feeling a lot more like himself, is a major plus. Fans have been all over Reddit trying to figure out “what’s actually wrong with Kristaps Porzingis’ health?” so getting the green light tonight is key, though how much he really brings to the table is still the big question.

But let’s not forget the massive elephant in the room for Boston: Jayson Tatum is out. For the season. Yep, it’s as bad as it sounds. He had surgery to repair that torn left Achilles he suffered late in Game 4. That injury just ripped the heart out of Boston’s title hopes and changed everything for this series. Trying to win two straight elimination games, especially one at the Garden, without your best player? That’s super tough, but the Celtics have the fight in them.

The Knicks aren’t totally in the clear either. Their energetic forward, Precious Achiuwa, is questionable for tonight with a sprained right ankle. If he can’t go, that definitely thins out Thibs’ bench a bit, and Achiuwa’s defense and hustle will be missed. But going back to KP, how much can he help the team? 

Porziņģis’s x-factor status: can ‘The Unicorn’ silence the Garden for the C’s?

For the Celtics to actually pull this off and force a Game 7, they need their Kristaps Porzingis, the real Unicorn, to show up tonight. Sure, Luke Kornet stepped in and played like a man possessed. His performance was epic – seven blocks, nine boards, 10 points, the dude was a monster! He even said on TNT he was just “trying to be aggressive, obviously backs against the wall… Just make every effort, make every play.” And he absolutely did!

Kornet’s heroics were incredible, a true “next man up” performance that kept Boston alive. But to win this game, in this insane MSG environment, and drag the series back home, the Celtics desperately need KP to be that legit X-factor. His unique skill set is exactly what Boston needs to unlock their offense and give the Knicks nightmares, especially with Tatum out.

We know Kristaps Porzingis’s shooting can stretch the floor like crazy, and for a Celtics team that’s been on fire from three, having him out there creating space is critical. It opens up everything for Derrick White, who was a flamethrower with 34 in Game 5, and for Jaylen Brown, who was dishing dimes (a career-high 12 assists!) while still getting his 26 points.

Jan 3, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) reacts after a dunk against the Houston Rockets during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

And it’s not just about the O. Defensively, KP’s size and rim protection are what the Celtics need against a physical Knicks team that loves to pound the paint. He offers a different deterrent than Kornet, and if he’s swatting and altering shots, that changes the whole dynamic for Boston. Offensively, he’s that crucial third scorer, the guy who can take the pressure off White and Brown, exploit those mismatches, and just be a general pain for the Knicks’ defense.

Playing at MSG, where he used to be the hometown hero, is always a wild card for Porzingis. That New York crowd is going to be absolutely unhinged, trying to get under his skin. Can he feed off that, use it as fuel? Can he prove he’s truly over that illness and deliver one of those dominant “Unicorn” performances that remind everyone why Boston brought him here? Or will the hostile crowd and the sheer physicality of an elimination game be too much?

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