Kristaps Porzingis and three other important players won’t be absent from the Celtics vs. Clippers game.

The Boston Celtics will have their next-man-up mentality put to the test once again when taking the floor on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kristaps Porzingis, who was a problem on both ends of the floor during Boston’s most recent win over the Sacramento Kings, won’t suit up in LA, the Celtics announced Friday night.

On Wednesday night, pitching into a 144-point offensive masterpiece, Porzingis scored 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded a game-high six blocks. Needless to say, not having that dominant frontcourt force isn’t great news — or new — for the Celtics.

Porzingis has missed seven games through Boston’s first 26, but the Celtics have managed more often than not when not having its 7-foot-3 big — Boston’s gone 5-2 without Porzingis.

The Celtics will need rim-protecting contributions from elsewhere with fellow center Luke Kornet, who’s been out for five consecutive contests with a left adductor injury, also ruled out once again.

Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla has received that from sixth man Al Horford and recently from reserve unit big Neemias Queta during Tuesday night’s overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors — 10 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.

The cause of Porzingis’ current ankle sprain came in the third quarter while knocking down an and-one turnaround jumper over Sacramento’s Kevin Huerter. Porzingis limped back to Boston’s bench instantly, but played for the remainder of the game, scoring 12 points in that third frame alone.

The Celtics are in search of a second straight win after splitting the first two in their four-game West Coast road trip.

 

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Jayson Tatum’s return for the Celtics’ game against the Clippers is up in the air.

Jayson Tatum sat out while the Celtics conquered the Kings with an explosive offensive output on Wednesday night, sending Boston right back to the win column with a still-Eastern Conference-best 21-6 record.

Taking a cautious approach with a day-to-day-level ankle injury, Tatum hasn’t been ruled out but also hasn’t been given the green light for Saturday’s battle with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Tatum was an active participant during Friday’s light team workout. And walking away without a thumbs up or thumbs down, the Celtics will wait it out and make their decision in the early hours ahead of tip-off, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.

Before suffering the ankle injury at the 7:55 mark in the first quarter during Boston’s loss in Golden State to the Warriors, durability was far from a concern regarding Tatum. The 25-year-old hadn’t missed a game yet and even after taking a trip to the locker room on Tuesday night, Tatum still returned to play the remaining three quarters plus overtime.