{"id":1583168,"date":"2024-06-05T12:55:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T16:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1583168"},"modified":"2024-06-05T12:55:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T16:55:58","slug":"celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have ‘A Little Bit Of Rust'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that “the plan” is for him to be available in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n

“That is the plan right now,” Porzingis said of playing Thursday. “Again, it's a couple more days, and I think that could make a difference. Every day gives me a bit more time to get even better.”<\/p>\n

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis has not played since suffering a right calf strain in the first round<\/h2>\n

Porzingis, 28, has been out since suffering a right calf strain<\/a> in Game 4 of the Celtics' first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat. He returned to practice Friday and participated fully in a light session Saturday.<\/p>\n

All eyes are on the 2018 NBA All-Star given he spent three years with the Mavericks before being traded in February 2022. In 57 games (all starts) with Dallas in the 2019-20 season, he averaged 20.4 points and a career-high 9.5 rebounds per contest.<\/p>\n

When Porzingis was asked Tuesday if he is 100 percent right now, the center took several long seconds before responding.<\/p>\n

“Good question,” he said. “I don't know. We'll see. Done a lot of work up until this point. Done everything needed to get back into playing shape. We'll see.”<\/p>\n

\n

Kristaps Porzingis takes a 10-second pause when asked if he\u2019s running pain free, smiles, and then says:<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/QxeSi4sAfe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Noa Dalzell \ud83c\udfc0 (@NoaDalzellNBA) June 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Afterwards, when the Celtics' big asked if he's running pain-free, he answered, “Yes.”<\/p>\n

Porzingis said he's been participating in practices with the team. However, game speed is different for an injured player at a team scrimmage than on the court against a playoff opponent.<\/p>\n

The eight-year veteran also added that he has confidence his leg will hold up once he's in those situations.<\/p>\n

“I think the medical staff would not put me out there if they wouldn't be confident that I'd be good,” Porzingis said. “I've done the things necessary to check the boxes, and that's it.<\/p>\n

“Of course, it's hard to imitate the same intensity in practice. That intensity is going to be a completely different level, but I have to be confident it will be all right.”<\/p>\n

Coach Joe Mazzulla expects Porzingis to pick up right where he left off in the NBA Finals<\/h2>\n

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is unsure whether Kristaps Porzingis will be ready for Game 1, considering how much time the 7-foot-2 big man has missed out of Boston's starting lineup.<\/p>\n

“He's been playing basketball for like 30 years,” Mazzulla said. “He's been playing intense situations his whole life, so I don't think that will be much of an issue. I think everything was just dependent upon — obviously you can't simulate the speed and the intensity of the game, which I think just comes with a little bit of reps.<\/p>\n

“KP is a great player. I think just because you've been out for a month doesn't mean you have to, like, relearn how to play basketball. He's been doing a lot of great things for us this season on both ends of the floor with physicality, with intensity. And I expect him to pick up right where he left off, but obviously there will be a little bit of rust. Just not concerned because of the work that he's put in and what he's done in his career and what he's done in this season for us.”<\/p>\n

In 57 games (all starts) of the regular season, Porzingis averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, helping the Celtics to a league-best 64-18 record and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

Boston hosts the Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that “the plan” is for him to be available in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. “That is the plan right now,” Porzingis said of playing Thursday. “Again, it's a couple more days, and I think that could make a difference. Every day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":305,"featured_media":1583169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[447483,4814,447464,447423,91,447482,447424],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCeltics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that he could be play in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that he could be play in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-05T16:55:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"299\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Foglio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Foglio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/\",\"name\":\"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-05T16:55:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-05T16:55:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/b7c3755de81e1559a50bd89a31f14d30\"},\"description\":\"Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that he could be play in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":299,\"caption\":\"Boston Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust' in NBA Finals\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have ‘A Little Bit Of Rust'\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/\",\"name\":\"Sports7\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/b7c3755de81e1559a50bd89a31f14d30\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/jamesfoglio\/\",\"name\":\"James Foglio\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-James-Foglio-1-352x354-1-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-James-Foglio-1-352x354-1-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"James Foglio\"},\"description\":\"James is a dedicated sportswriter. He earned his bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. James enjoys watching sports and helping gamblers win money.\",\"jobTitle\":\"Sports Editor\",\"email\":\"\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust'","description":"Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that he could be play in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust'","og_description":"Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that he could be play in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks.","og_url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/","og_site_name":"Sports7","article_published_time":"2024-06-05T16:55:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":299,"url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Foglio","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Foglio","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/","name":"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-05T16:55:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-05T16:55:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/b7c3755de81e1559a50bd89a31f14d30"},"description":"Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said Tuesday that he could be play in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Celtics-Coach-Joe-Mazzulla-Says-Kristaps-Porzingis-Will-Have-A-Little-Bit-Of-Rust.jpg","width":450,"height":299,"caption":"Boston Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have 'A Little Bit Of Rust' in NBA Finals"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-says-kristaps-porzingis-will-have-a-little-bit-of-rust\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Says Kristaps Porzingis Will Have ‘A Little Bit Of Rust'"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/","name":"Sports7","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/b7c3755de81e1559a50bd89a31f14d30","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/jamesfoglio\/","name":"James Foglio","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-James-Foglio-1-352x354-1-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-James-Foglio-1-352x354-1-96x96.jpg","caption":"James Foglio"},"description":"James is a dedicated sportswriter. He earned his bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. James enjoys watching sports and helping gamblers win money.","jobTitle":"Sports Editor","email":"","sameAs":["","","","",""]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1583171,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583168\/revisions\/1583171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1583169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}