Report: Celtics' Kristaps Porziņģis to Return from Injury in NBA Finals G1 vs. Mavs
June 4, 2024
Kristaps Porziņģis is expected to return Thursday to face the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported.
Porziņģis has been sidelined since April 29 with a calf injury. He is expected to return "barring any setback," Charania said on FanDuel TV's Run it Back.
Run It Back @RunItBackFDTV"He is expected to make his return from this calf injury in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday night" 💪<a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShamsCharania</a> with the latest on Kristaps Porzingis <a href="https://t.co/lJjmGcYNka">pic.twitter.com/lJjmGcYNka</a>
The news comes after Porziņģis successfully participated in two five-on-five scrimmages in three days, per Charania.
Porziņģis last played Game 4 of the Celtics' first-round series against the Miami Heat. He averaged 14.0 points through three postseason games prior to his injury.
"I think these last few days, where he's able to play in these scrimmages, that does bode well for him, and he's come out well from it," Charania said.
Charania added that he has been told the Celtics are not yet sure how many minutes Porziņģis will be able to play in his return. He averaged almost 30 per game, while leading the Celtics with an average of 1.9 blocks, through 57 regular-season starts.
Charania's report comes less than a week after Porziņģis promised his impending return in a post written in Latvian on X.
"I'll be back in the lineup very soon. See you in the finals," Porziņģis wrote last Wednesday (h/t Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press.)
A Game 1 return would put Porziņģis back on the court five-and-a-half weeks after his injury.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski previously reported that Porziņģis could make his return "as soon as" Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but he remained sidelined for the final game of the sweep of the Pacers.
The Celtics have gone 9-1 since Porziņģis' injury after taking just nine games to oust both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers.
Boston also went 21-4 when Porziņģis was absent due to injury during the regular season, but his Celtics teammates have been firm that his return to the rotation will not weaken the chemistry that has sent the team through the Finals with only two total losses.
"I feel like we're all mature enough to get back in the group or have him fit back in when he gets back," Celtics guard Jrue Holiday said about Porziņģis' return, per The Athletic's Jared Weiss. "And we do want KP back. We can't wait for him to get back in and be a part of this on the court."
The Celtics will hope to see their 7'2" center contribute on both ends of the court if he is able to make his return to the court against his former Mavericks teammates later this week.
