Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is a warrior.
Porzingis appeared to suffer an injury to his right leg in the fourth quarter during Boston's 105-98 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden on Sunday night. Porzingis was spotted stretching out his right calf on the bench, and there was concern from Celtics fans, considering the Latvian big man missed over a month of action due to a strain in his right calf.
But Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters after the game that he had "zero concern" about Porzingis's status moving forward—and Porzingis himself found an extreme way to reassure reporters during a postgame session with the media.
"I'll be good... I'll die out there"
Kristaps Porzingis gives us an injury update and says he will not miss Game 3 pic.twitter.com/G2yg6gRsG1
When a reporter asked Porzingis how difficult it was to keep playing through the injury, the Celtics center had a great response.
"Not difficult at all, I'll die out there," he said.
Porzingis, who did exit the game and head to the locker room briefly, played 23 minutes, tallying 12 points, four rebounds, a pair of blocks and an assist in Boston's win, which extended his team's series lead to 2-0.
The 7'2" big man is a huge part of that championship pursuit. Fortunately, it seems like Porzingis and the Celtics avoided serious injury on Sunday night.
"I'm feeling good," Porzingis said. "Yeah, I don't think it's anything serious, but we'll look at it tomorrow and go from there. But all good."
The NBA Finals shifts to the American Airlines Center for Game 3, which tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.
TIM CAPURSO
