Is Kristaps Porzingis playing tonight? Latest injury update for Celtics vs. Mavs, Game 5

The Boston Celtics are one win from their 17th NBA title but the franchise might need to beat the Dallas Mavericks one more time without Kristaps Porzingis as the top starter deals with a lower-body injury. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. tonight on ABC and ESPN2.

Boston needs to win one more game out of a possible three (if necessary) and the city of Boston will be popping champagne and likely taking work off to parade in the streets. Porzingis has missed a majority of the Celtics' playoff run with a right knee injury that he suffered in the first round against the Heat. Then, the former Knick hurt his other knee in Game 2 which was later revealed to be a rare left-leg injury. This has caused him to miss the third and fourth installments of this series.

The Celtics have missed Porzingis' presence' down low after he averaged 20.1 points, and 7.2 rebounds per game on 51 percent shooting during the regular season. The big man was arguably the best player on the court in Game 1 of the series scoring 20 points and 6 rebounds on 61 percent shooting. The starter played fine in the next game of the series but it seemed clear he injured himself. This likely caused him to miss the final minutes of the fourth quarter in Game 2.

After getting injured, Porzingis' status is somewhat known with details regarding his usage in what Boston hopes to be the final game of the NBA 2023-24 season.

Kristaps Porzingis' injury status for Game 5

UPDATE: Porzingis is available for Game 5 and will not be on a minutes restriction.

As the official NBA injury report documents, Kristaps Porzingis is listed as questionable with a "Left Posterior Tibial; Dislocation (left knee injury)." Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Fanduel's Run It Back, that "the expectation" is that Porzingis will "play a similar role that he did in Game 4."

Kristaps Porzingis did not play a single minute in Game 4 despite being made available by the team. This information indicates that the veteran will likely not play but could be listed as available to trick the Mavericks into putting him into their opposing offense and defense game plan.

With this information out and in the open, it's probable that Mavericks' head coach Jason Kidd, and the rest of his coaching staff will not believe this propaganda. This could change and the center could be inserted for a brief second (if they need size) but it is likely that Boston will not have Kristaps Porzingis available for Game 5. This could change but at this moment, it seems that the Celtics might have to win without the forward in the lineup.