Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is confident of playing the third game of the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks despite tweaking his right leg late in his team’s Game 2 105-98 win on Sunday.
Porzingis recently returned to action after recovering from a calf strain injury but said he will die out there for his team to make them win.
“Not difficult at all,” Porzingis said, when asked if it was tough for him to continue playing. “I’ll die out there if we need, so I just kept going.
“But obviously I was a little bit limited, so the smart thing was to get Al [Horford] back in there and close out the game.”
Porzingis, who was at his absolute best in the opening game of the NBA finals, is confident of playing the Wednesday match.
“I feel good,” said Porzingis, who sat in a chair as he did his postgame media session in the locker room. “Obviously something happened a little bit, but I have a couple days [to get ready] again, and believe me, we’ll do everything we can to be back and moving.”
Meanwhile, Porzingis had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 23 minutes while coming off the bench in the second game.
If Porzingis plays on Wednesday, it will be the first time he will play in Dallas against his former team.
“Yeah, honestly,” Porzingis said with a smile, when asked if it was a little weird to make his initial return to Dallas in the NBA Finals. “It’s an interesting coincidence now to be in the Finals for the first time and being back in Dallas, but it’s going to be a regular game for us, for me.
“It just happens to be on a big stage … Dallas was my home. I love the city. I love the fans there.”
On the other hand, Jrue Holiday understands the job is not yet done after they have taken a 2-0 lead.
“Being on this team, the journey to this point has been great, but we still know being up 2-0 means nothing,” Holiday said. “Job’s not done. We have to do whatever it takes.”
