Kristgaps Porzingis missrf his sixth straight game on Monday night when the Boston Celtics faced off with the Utah Jazz at TD Garden. It was the seventh missed game overall in the last eight contests for Boston that Porzingis has missed due to a non-COVID illness. The big man played through the illness two weeks ago in Detroit on February 26 but he has not appeared in a game since then. Boston has gone 4-1 in his absence.

“He’s getting close,” Joe Mazzulla said before Monday’s game.

Porzingis has been with the team in recent days, taking part in a practice last Tuesday and going through a warmup before Saturday’s game against the Lakers. He also sat with his teammates on the bench during the team’s win over the 76ers on Thursday night. Boston did upgrade him to questionable for the first time on Saturday night for the Lakers game before ruling him out. He was downgraded back to doubtful for Monday’s game against the Jazz before being ruled out.

Porzingis revealed in a post on X during Monday’s game that the big man is dealing with an unknown illness.

“I have been dealing with some viral illness that we haven’t been able to fully identify yet,” Porzingis posted on social media. “I am recovering and getting better. But still working my way back to full strength to help this team. Thanks for support and Im hoping for a healthy return soon.”

“He’s sick,” Mazzulla said last Thursday. “He’s coming into the facility every day trying to get shots up, sweat it out. He’s just not feeling well. He is working to get back.”

There’s little doubt that Porzingis was dealing with an illness during this absence but it would not be a surprise if the team is being cautious with the big man in recent days given his injury history. A league source told MassLive last week that Porzingis was doing ok as he recovered from his illness and his presence on the bench would indicate there’s nothing serious at play.

Porzingis however is coming off offseason leg surgery and had played every game since returning from an ankle injury on January 3 except for back-to-back sets for the Celtics.

With Boston essentially locked into the No. 2 seed after going 14-3 in their last 17 games, putting extra miles on Porzingis body before the postseason grind would not make much sense.

Porzingis played 57 games during his first season in Boston but just seven games in the playoffs as he suffered multiple injuries during Boston’s title run. The veteran seven-footer has played more than 60 games in just one season since suffering an ACL tear with the Knicks during the 2018-19 season.

The next update on Porzingis’ status will come on Tuesday ahead of Boston’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

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