Celtics
Porzingis was seen draining three-pointers and jogging on the court during a shootaround on Friday.
After missing the Celtics’ last 10 games due to a calf strain, Kristaps Porzingis finally seems to be on the verge of returning to the parquet just in time for the NBA Finals.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla won’t say for sure whether or not the star center will be ready to go for Game 1 on June 6, though.
“He’s getting better. He’s out there shooting. He went through a couple drills in practice,” Mazzulla told reporters when asked about Porzingis’s recovery on Friday. “He’s progressing well. We’re kinda confident in where he’s at right now.”
While Mazzulla is noncommittal on announcing the 28-year-old’s status for next Thursday, Porzingis seems to be progressing well.
The big man was seen draining three-pointers around the arc and jogging at times on the court during a shootaround on Friday. Porzinigs appeared to have a compression sleeve on his lower right leg, the body part he injured on April 29 against the Miami Heat.
Two days after the Celtics won the Eastern Conference finals, Porzingis shared an encouraging message for fans regarding his health on X in Latvian.
Here is the translated post from May 29:
“Thank you to everyone who supports and sympathizes throughout the season. I’ll be back in line soon. See you in the finals ☘️ and then in the arena with your own 🙌”
Notably, Porzingis mentioned returning to play during the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Whether he’ll be ready for Game 1 remains to be seen, it sounds like the player expects to be back at some point in the series.
Porzingis also briefly touched on his recovery status following Boston’s Eastern Conference finals victory on Monday, according to WMTW’s Andrew Clark.
“I feel good. I feel good. I am making progress, and we will be ready to go,” Porzingis said.
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