Kristaps Porzingis To Return For Game 1, But Uncertainty Follows

BOSTON — There’s no more doubt surrounding the status of Boston Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis.

Porzingis said Wednesday he will be on the floor — and presumably in the starting lineup — when the Celtics and Dallas Mavericks tip off the NBA Finals on Thursday night from TD Garden.

Even though Porzingis is available to play, there’s still plenty of uncertainty surrounding his return. Porzingis hasn’t played in over five weeks since suffering a right calf strain in Boston’s first-round series against the Miami Heat.

Given the long layoff and the injury, which Porzingis said took longer to recover from than expected, a minutes restriction doesn’t seem out of the question for the 7-foot-2 center. And even on the eve of Game 1, Porzingis is unsure if that will be the case for him.

“I think it’s still kind of open to that. It’s still not super clear,” Porzingis said at NBA Finals media day. “I haven’t had that much time. And again, we’ll see tomorrow night and then go from there.”

Porzingis may not be at 100% on the floor — he gave an interesting answer when asked about that Tuesday — but he feels that won’t bring any sort of apprehension on his part.

“You have to check all the boxes to even get to this point,” Porzingis said. “As I said, you cannot imitate the same intensity in practice as it’s going to be tomorrow night in the game. But I have to feel confident to go out there and leave it all on the floor and expect that I’m going to be healthy.”

Porzingis was a game-changer on both ends of the floor for the Celtics during the regular season. He averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.

But Porzingis doesn’t know if he will be able to contribute at that level, or come close to that type of production, with the Celtics just four wins away from capturing an NBA title.

“It’s tough to say. I haven’t played. I haven’t played for awhile. Tomorrow will be my first real minutes in awhile,” Porzingis said. “I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment, but there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get tomorrow. Little bit tough to jump into the Finals like this, but I did everything I could to prepare for it and we’ll see tomorrow night.”