With a right soleus (calf) strain sustained in Game 4 of the Boston Celtics’ first-round series against the Miami Heat, Kristaps Porziņģis stated on Saturday that he is gradually healing but that he does not yet have a comeback date set.

There is, of course, no set date. It’s still pretty early,” Porziņģis said. “I believe it will become evident when I take on additional tasks. .. Not quite there yet. but anticipating a historically rapid recovery.

Porziņ~is stated that he may take some time to feel better before making a comeback.

It’s not nothing; it’s something. Thus, it will undoubtedly take some time,” he remarked. However, I’m making every effort to expedite the process because I want to get back out there as soon as possible. However, realizing that, the worst case scenario would be to likely exacerbate that. so exercising intelligence.

A Grade 1 soleus strain usually heals in one to two weeks, a Grade 2 takes two to three weeks, and a Grade 3—a full tear of the muscle—requires four to six weeks, according to Dr. Daniel Kharrazi, an orthopedic surgeon at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

“I believe Porziņģis has a grade 2 injury, and I would anticipate a two- to three-week recovery period,” Kharrazi stated. “I understand that Giannis Antetokounmpo had a Grade 2, and many reports said it’s similar to what he had.”

Porziņģis initially stated that he is approaching his rehabilitation aggressively and was taking things day by day, but he soon amended himself to say week by week. When the second round starts on April 29, he will have been injured for just over a week. He claimed that a number of things that happened quickly led to the damage.

“I stepped on Tyler Herro while trying to get a rebound, rolling my ankle in the process. returned; perhaps began to make up a little too much ground with the other side, or something; I’m not sure,” Porziņāis remarked. “I felt something as soon as I pushed off.”

Kharrazi stated, “I don’t think it’s coincidental.” He might have been jogging off-balance and failing to preserve the muscle because of certain gluteal and ankle problems. Such a change in mechanics may put you at risk for anything similar.

The first thing to think about when someone pulls up lame from a calf strain is if it’s an Achilles injury, which frequently necessitates surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation period.

You witnessed my response on the court. I then became calm after learning the diagnosis, according to Porziņģis. “It appears to be less severe than I had previously believed. Yes, that is the reality. Nobody desires to suffer harm. However, it’s at least not as horrible as it could have been.

Kharrazi states that while a soleus injury may seem serious at first, recovery is usually quite simple.

The muscle on the outside of the leg is known as the gastrocnemius, and this is where most calf strains occur. A gastroc medial head damage occurs 90% of the time when a leg is hurt by a calf strain, according to Kharrazi. Compared to the gastroc, the soleus muscle is substantially deeper. The soleus has an excellent blood supply and is very vascular, which is good news. Even though there may be a little bit more force involved in the injury with deeper strains, healing time is not overly long. Thus, the timeline should typically be two to three weeks.

After suffering a strain to his soleus muscle against the Boston Celtics on April 9, Antetokounmpo was sidelined for three weeks and was not expected to play in the playoffs when the Milwaukee Bucks played Game 6 on Thursday. He informed the media on Friday that his return will likely take several weeks.

According to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Antetokounmpo stated, “That was the first time I was able to jog on my body weight since April 9 on the day of Game 4 in Indiana.” I believe I did my best to support my comrades by returning. Seeing them out there with no one to aid them is kind of depressing. But I was unable to.

Porziņģis stated that he had not yet begun running. Kharrazi states that it is typically necessary for an athlete recuperating from a Grade 2 strain to wait at least a week before starting to jog.

“I’m not yet on the ground. However, I hope to start doing things very soon,” he stated. “I’m still working out in the weight room, moving slowly and building up.” I would say that there is a lot of development made every day—it’s still very new—but it feels nice.

Following the injury and in order to reduce inflammation, Porziņģis and the training team have been concentrating on introducing mobility “without stressing it too much.”

He stated, “I expect Monday to be pretty good and go from there. Every day is a pretty big jump every day.”

Porziņģis has already experienced a calf strain this season; on November 24, he hurt his left calf against Orlando and had to miss the following four games.

“This one is more powerful. Worse, indeed, he remarked. It’s definitely a little bit worse, even though I didn’t want to use that word. Indeed, it will simply require a little more time. yet maintaining an optimistic outlook.

Throughout the regular season—which saw the Celtics go 21–4—PorziņĖis missed 25 games. But since this is his first opportunity to participate in the postseason after the first round of the league, it will probably be the first time he misses more than ten days in a row, which is frustrating for him.

Hard, harsh, hard. It’s difficult, I won’t lie,” remarked Porziņċis. “The first few moments were quite difficult. You feel depressed for a brief while. That’s just the way things are. It is a natural occurrence in the sport.

It will be more than a week after Porziņěis’s injury when the Celtics play Cleveland or Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs. He will probably miss the first several games of the upcoming series, if not the entire one, for the Celtics. Al Horford, who is 37 years old and still playing at a high level, may come under more scrutiny because of his absence.

Horford played 128 minutes in the first round, and the Celtics outscored the Heat by 50 points. This season, the team has not suffered much, if at all, from his spot starts. In the first unit, they had a 26-7 record with him.

One possible issue is that Horford will have to bear a heavier load due to PorziņĢis’s injury, which could result in significant mileage on his seasoned legs. It will be intriguing to see how coach Joe Mazzulla tackles Horford’s playing time while Porziņģis is sidelined.