Kristaps Porzingis said he’ll “die on the market” on the court after his injury scare Sunday night within the Celtics’ 105-98 win over the Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The 7-foot-2 center had Celtics faithful concerned when he appeared to injure something while guarding Mavericks forward P.J. Washington midway through the fourth quarter and briefly remained in the sport.
“I feel good,” Porzingis told reporters after helping propel the Celtics to a 2-0 series lead. “Feeling good. I don’t think it’s anything serious. But we’ll have a look at it tomorrow and go from there. But all good. I’ll be good.”
Porzingis — who said the injury wasn’t related to the best calf strain previously suffered within the first-round series vs. the Heat — moved gingerly for a couple of minutes before he left the sport with 4:40 remaining and didn’t return.
“I kept playing… some bumps and bruises occur throughout the sport, but I’ll be good,” Porzingis said, later adding it “wasn’t difficult in any respect” to play through.
“I’ll die on the market if we’d like,” he said, smiling. “So I just kept going, but obviously I used to be a bit of limited. So the smart thing was to get Al [Horford] back in there and shut out the sport.”
Porzingis wasn’t sure in regards to the exact nature of the injury, explaining “[it’s] something. I don’t even know what it’s to be honest, but yeah, I’ll be good… Obviously something happened a bit of bit but we now have a pair days again and imagine me, we’ll do the whole lot we are able to to be back and moving well.”
He went on to say he’s feeling “a bit of bit higher” by way of conditioning after missing playing time earlier within the playoffs.
“Despite the fact that I had really good comeback game [in Game 1], it’s tough to leap into the rhythm like that and have the conditioning… but I believe I did a good job tonight and helped the team win and that’s it, we move forward.”
Porzingis recorded 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes last Thursday in Boston’s 107-89 rout of the Celtics to open The Finals.
The NBA All-Star finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds and one assist before he left in Game 2.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the sport that Porzingis didn’t reaggravate his previous calf strain, adding, “He’s good.”
Porzingis said he’ll get imaging done Monday and is confident he’ll play in Wednesday’s Game 3 in Dallas, in accordance with ESPN.
That is Porzingis’ first season with the Celtics following a trade with the Wizards in June 2023.
The previous Knicks first-round pick was originally dealt to Washington by the Mavericks in 2022.
