The Boston Celtics won Game 2 of the NBA finals 105-98, a home victory against the Dallas Mavericks. With the result, the team heads to Dallas for two road games with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Defense has been the key for Boston thus far in the finals. The club’s perseverance on this end has allowed the Celtics to take care of business rather convincingly. That said, they’ve also played well on the offensive side of the ball, in part thanks to Kristaps Porzingis. The big man provides a unique blend of scoring and rim protection, but his status for the series was unclear. Porzingis suffered a soleus strain in the opening round of the playoffs, and only returned to the court in Game 1 of the finals. Sunday in Game 2, however, he appeared to have re-aggravated the injury.
Several times he walked carefully down the court, and seemed to be working through some pain. After the game, Porzingis gave an optimistic update.
“I feel good,” Porzingis said. “Feeling good. I don’t think it’s anything serious. But we’ll look at it tomorrow and go from there. But all good. I’ll be good.”
Porzingis first looked to be walking gingerly after closing out on a shot by Kyrie Irving on the perimeter. It was a normal enough defensive effort, but Porzingis spent the next few plays looking a little stiff.
Boston took a timeout, and Porzingis had a block on the next play. Even if he was hurting, he was still effective. Later in the fourth quarter, though, Porzingis once again appeared to feel pain in his injured leg following what looked to be another routine contest. He left the game at the 4:41 mark as Boston fought off a Dallas comeback.
Porzingis told reporters he wasn’t exactly sure what happened, or what injury he even suffered. He wasn’t sure if the pain is connected to his previous ailment or not.
“I don’t even know what it is, to be honest. But I’ll be good,” he said.
Boston has a few days off before Game 3 in Dallas. Any injury setback would be a major concern for the Celtics, although it’s worth remembering how dominant Boston was in the prior rounds of the postseason even with Porzingis sidelined.
We should know in the next few days if Porzingis exacerbated his soleus strain or developed a new injury. He said he’s ready to fight through whatever he can in order to help the Celtics raise an 18th banner.
“I will die out there,” Porzingis said.
Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals is Wednesday in Dallas.
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