Well, it’s a major surprise, but NBA Insider Shams Charania reported that Kristaps Porzingis is expected to be ready for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
Porizingis hasn’t played since April 29th when he suffered a calf injury in Boston’s opening-round series against the Heat. Barring a setback in the coming days, we’ll be seeing the Latvian center in the lineup for Boston against Dallas to tip off the championship series.
Kristaps Porzingis Expected To Play Game 1
Porzingis being ready for Game 1 was widely expected in the last few weeks. Going into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, the 28-year-old big man was ruled as a possibility to return later on in the series. The Celtics, however, didn’t need their starting center as they took care of Indiana in a four-game sweep. Now, with the extra time to heal up, Porzingis should be close to full strength for Game 1 against Dallas.
The veteran center is in his first season with the Celtics. He started 57 games in the 2023-24 campaign and averaged 20.1 PPG and 7.2 RPG per game while shooting 51.6% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
The matchup in the paint in the NBA Finals should be a very intriguing one. Porzingis has been very good for Boston when on the floor this season. And, for Dallas, we’ve seen (former Bull, sigh) Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively play huge roles in getting them where they are. It should be a really fun series ahead, and while the star power will get a lot of the headlines, the battle in the post could go a long way in deciding this series.
