Kristaps Porzingis said he’ll “die out there” on the court after his injury scare Sunday night in 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 game.
“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 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 right calf strain previously suffered in the first-round series vs. the Heat — moved gingerly for a few minutes before he left the game with 4:40 remaining and did not return.
“I kept playing… some bumps and bruises happen throughout the game, but I’ll be good,” Porzingis said, later adding it “wasn’t difficult at all” to play through.
“I’ll die out there if we need,” he said, smiling. “So I just kept going, but obviously I was a little limited. So the smart thing was to get Al [Horford] back in there and close out the game.”
Porzingis wasn’t sure about the exact nature of the injury, explaining “[it’s] something. I don’t even know what it is to be honest, but yeah, I’ll be good… Obviously something happened a little bit but we have a couple days again and believe me, we’ll do everything we can to be back and moving well.”
He went on to say he’s feeling “a little bit better” in terms of conditioning after missing playing time earlier in the playoffs.
“Even though I had really good comeback game [in Game 1], it’s tough to jump into the rhythm like that and have the conditioning… but I think I did a decent 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, four rebounds and one assist before he left in Game 2.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game that Porzingis did not reaggravate his previous calf strain, adding, “He’s good.”
Porzingis said he will get imaging done Monday and is confident he will play in Wednesday’s Game 3 in Dallas, according to ESPN.
This is Porzingis’ first season with the Celtics following a trade with the Wizards in June 2023.
The former Knicks first-round pick was originally dealt to Washington by the Mavericks in 2022.