Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said he thinks imaging is the plan after tweaking his right leg late in Sunday night’s 105-98 NBA Finals win over the Mavericks; however, he still plans to play in Game 3 in Dallas.
Porzingis said, “Not at all,” when asked whether he was finding it difficult to keep playing. If we had to, I’d die out there, so I continued going.
Late in the fourth quarter on Sunday, Porzingis seemed to aggravate the same leg. He had been out for almost five weeks due to a calf injury but returned in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday. He continued to play for a few more possessions before deciding to sit out the last four minutes in favor of Horford due to a concussion. Horford finished the game from the bench.
Even though he was using a band to extend his leg on the bench, Porzingis didn’t seem to be limping in the locker room. Even though Porzingis has said again and again that he thinks imaging will be scheduled for Monday, he is still planning to be fully prepared to play when the series begins on Wednesday.
With a chair in hand, Porzingis conducted his postgame media availability in the locker room. “I feel good,” he said. “Something happened a little bit, but I have a couple of days again, and believe me, we’ll do everything we can to be back and moving.”
Just two games after making an electrifying return to the floor for 20 minutes in Boston’s 1-0 triumph, Porzingis came off the bench for 23 minutes in Game 2 and finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks, enough for a plus-12 total as his previous club, the Celtics, jumped out to a dominating 2-0 lead.
Once Porzingis plays Wednesday’s game, it will be his first return to Dallas against his previous club since being moved to Washington in February 2022.
After missing the previous two seasons due to injury, the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis from the Wizards in a three-team deal last summer.
Porzingis smiled and said, “Yeah, honestly,” when asked whether returning to Dallas for the first time in the NBA Finals felt a little strange. “It’s going to be a routine game for us, for me. It’s fascinating that we’re back in Dallas and in the Finals for the first time.
Performing on a large platform is a coincidence. I called Dallas home. Such a beautiful city. There, I adore the fans.
After the Celtics and Porzingis stifled the Mavericks on defense for the second game in a row, those fans may not have much love for the player. Kyrie Irving continued his dismal play against Boston, scoring 16 points on 7-for-18 shooting. He now has a 13-for-37 record in the series’ first two games, including a 0-for-8 effort from beyond the arc.
Despite Luka Doncic’s 32 points, 11 boards, 11 assists, and 4 steals, the Mavericks shot only 2-for-17 from 3-point range and are 5-for-32 from long range in the series’ first two games. Boston also pushed Doncic into 8 turnovers.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was happy with his team’s performance despite their terrible shooting performance (10-for-39 from 3-point range) throughout the game.
Mazzulla said that, in most cases, when an offense has a few possessions but no points to score, the defense steps in, or the team loses faith in its spacing and shot selection, leading to transition opportunities and a mismatch in the scoring column. We avoided cross-matches and kept the game going the way we wanted because the men trusted each other and were disciplined.
Jrue Holiday continued his stellar play for the Bruins with a 26-point effort on 11-for-14 shooting, three assists, a steal, a block, and no turnovers in 41 minutes Sunday night, building on his team-best plus-20 performance in Game 1.
With two games played in this series, Holiday scored 38 points without committing a turnover. He trails only Michael Jordan (in 1998) in this regard, the only player to accomplish this feat since individual turnovers were monitored in 1977–78.
While Boston aims to secure a record-setting 18th championship banner with two more wins in this series, Holiday made it clear that now is not the time to be content when questioned about the current status of the series.
“Being on this team, the journey to this point has been great, but we still know being up 2-0 means nothing,” added the player. Work is ongoing. Whatever it takes, we must do it.
