BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis headed to the locker room on Wednesday night after absorbing a violent elbow on the forehead from Orlando big man Goga Bitadze in Game 2 of the Celtics-Magic first round series.

Porzingis and Bitadze were fighting for a loose ball with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Bitadze wound up and connected with Porzingis’ forehead on a follow through while attempting to tap out a loose ball. The contact immediately opened up a large cut on Porzingis’ forehead and he headed back to the locker room almost immediately. Upon an official review, Bitadze was called for a flagrant 1 foul.

Porzingis emerged back from the tunnel to the delight of the TD Garden crowd minutes later to take his two free throws before being subbed out and heading back to the locker room. He had a large bandage on his forehead at the spot of the cut and still had lots of dried blood on his face. It will the second time this month that Porzingis has required stitches. He got cut open on April 4 in a win over the Suns at TD Garden that sidelined him for much of the second half of that win.

Porzingis and Bitadze do have a bit of a history this season with an altercation between the duo leading to a Bitadze ejection back on December 23rd in a Celtics loss in Orlando. Bitadze grabbed Porzingis’ throat during a standoff and was thrown out of that game after a video review.

Porzingis scored 20 points and added eight rebounds in his 27 minutes in Game 2 before suffering the injury. He also had a game-high 14 free throw attempts. He returned to the game with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter with a large bandage on his forehand.