Kristaps Porzingis is available to play Monday night as the Celtics look to close out the Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
And it’s not the type of “available” he was last Friday, when Porzingis dressed but did not play as Dallas blew out Boston in Game 4.
“He’s available,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said in his pregame news conference before Game 5 at TD Garden. “Expect to see him tonight.”
Porzingis sat out Boston’s last two games with what the team called a “rare” leg injury — a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon. Teammate Xavier Tillman shared a discouraging update on the banged-up big man Sunday, saying Porzingis still looked “very uncomfortable” in practice.
Porzingis completed an extensive, 20-plus-minute workout before Monday’s game, however, and appeared to be moving well. Asked whether Porzingis’ condition had improved since Game 4, when Mazzulla said he was “not quite ready” to return, the coach simply replied: “Yes.”
Mazzulla also said Porzingis would not have a minutes restriction Monday night. But he said the same when the 7-foot-2 center returned from the calf injury that sidelined him for 10 games earlier this postseason, and Porzingis later acknowledged that was not true.
The Mavericks have struggled to match up against Porzingis in these Finals. He was an impact player off the bench in Games 1 and 2, totaling 32 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in 44 minutes as Boston won both.
“I think we expected him back at some point, and he’s available tonight,” Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said. “What does it change? Just his ability to score in Game 1 and 2. We have to be better. We’ve got to make him put it on the floor where he just can’t catch and shoot. And then defensively, we have to be aware of his shot-blocking. We’ve got to account for him when we do drive into the paint, that he’s one that can change and block shots. We have to be better at that. In Game 1 and 2, we weren’t very good.
Kidd said the Mavs plan to test Porzingis’ health and movement ability as they attempt to force a Game 6 back in Dallas.
“We’ll see how he moves,” he said. “But I think healthy or not healthy — healthy, we’re still going to check to see how he moves. So nothing changes there.”