On Monday, the Boston Celtics blew a 20-point lead and fell into a 1-0 hole in their second round playoff series vs the New York Knicks. The Celtics played much of this game without big man Kristaps Porzingis, who exited late in the first half with an illness and did not return.

The ailment conjured up memories of the extended stretch of games earlier this season that Porzingis missed due to a mysterious illness, and recently, Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog reported on X that the illness Porzingis suffered on Monday is connected to his previous one.

“He had been working through it since he's gotten back and he's done a great job of being available. It was just hard for him to continue yesterday,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla on Tuesday.

The Celtics are used to operating without Porzingis in the lineup, something they had to do for the majority of their postseason run last year, which culminated in a championship.

Porzingis struggled mightily in the Celtics' first round series against the Orlando Magic, not hitting his first three-pointer until Game 4 of that matchup, and was off to a similarly poor start before exiting vs the Knicks.

A tough loss for Boston

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The Celtics likely aren't panicking after narrowly losing a contest in which they set the NBA record for most missed three-pointers in a postseason game.

Still, Boston should have a healthy level concern after relinquishing their 20-point lead in alarmingly quick fashion. It's also not a great sign that the Knicks didn't get much from Karl-Anthony Towns, or a particular efficient performance from Jalen Brunson (at least until the fourth quarter), and were still able to win.

It's unclear how long, if at all, Porzingis will be out of the lineup with this illness. As previously mentioned, the Celtics have proven themselves more than capable of holding down the fort in his absence.

In any case, the Celtics and Knicks will tip off Game 2 of their series on Wednesday evening, once again from the TD Garden in Boston at 7:00 PM ET.