Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis continues to show good progress this weekend as he rehabs a right calf strain, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports.
Porzingis has been sidelined since Boston’s opening-round series against Miami, when he sustained the injury during Game 4. He was putting up shots and doing some drills during Friday’s practice session. It got even better on Saturday, as coach Joe Mazzulla stated that Porzingis “did everything the team did” in that day’s practice, Kyle Hightower of The Associated Press reports.
Earlier in the week, Porzingis posted a tweet on social media. Translated by a Latvian journalist and relayed by The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, the tweet read, “Thank you to everyone who is supporting and cheering me on all season long. Very soon I will be back and ready to play. See you in the Finals and then in Arena (Riga) with our guys.”
The last part of the post refers to Porzingis’ participation with the Latvian national team in this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- Celtics forward Jayson Tatum views a second appearance in the Finals in three years as a chance for redemption, Bontemps writes in a separate story. “It’s a lot that myself, and we, can learn from that experience being in the Finals, and this time, this go-around is a lot different,” Tatum said. “Obviously, we’ve been there before, we came up short. And a great opportunity to make it to the Finals again. You don’t always get a second chance, so really just looking at it as a second chance and trying to simplify things as much as we can. It’s another series that we’ve got to win.” Playing through a wrist injury in the 2022 Finals, Tatum averaged 21.5 points but shot 31.5% from 2-point range.
- The asking price for Bulls wing Zach LaVine has dropped significantly, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes. LaVine is coming off another injury-marred season and there’s a sense from both sides that a change of scenery may be LaVine’s best option. Previously, the Bulls were seeking All-Star level talent, first-round picks or both for LaVine, but that’s no longer the case.
- Executives from around the league have endorsed the hiring of Trajan Langdon as Pistons president of basketball operations, according to Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press. Count Nets GM Sean Marks, Langdon’s former boss, among them. “You don’t get to have the career he had on the basketball court without being very competitive and diligent, and that’s something in this organization and this business — you have to be competitive, whether you want to be a star in your analytics or your star at your scouting department or a star at player development,” Marks said. “You want to be the best there is and it should irk you when somebody else out there is showing promise or beats you to the punch. That competitive fire is instilled in Trajan and definitely separates him from the lot.”
So Chicago joined reality essentially
I don’t trust KP. Boston should still win without him.
This exactly
The problem is Boston needs KP. Mavs have too many bigs, while the Celtics have old Horford. Horford is not anymore consistent. I don’t trust Mazzulla because he will only play 7-8 players again in the playoffs. Tatum and Brown won’t have any rest and gets tired in the last minutes. Mazzulla don’t trust his bench.
it would be great to have the added depth, but they are the favorites without him for a reason. Their record without him is 21-4 in the regular season,. I think 9-1 in the playoffs. Just my opinion and its biased, but they should win either way. Dallas’ bigs are super athletic and play great with the 2 dishing guards, however the C’s present defensive mismatches like no one else does. Have to guard 1-5 all the way to the 3 point line.
Rest of the league already viewed Lavine as a negative trade asset before his injury. Best case scenario they have to give up a 1st rounder and Lavine for Ben Simmons. Most likely scenario is they are stuck together as that contract is one of the worst, if not the worst in the NBA
When healthy, LaVine is a great offensive talent. Bulls should just keep LaVine rather than trade for a bunch of garbage. Can trade at the trade deadline if at all. Don’t believe that the Bulls should have the ‘trade at all costs’ mentality.
Dana, I thought in a previous article Mazulla made it clear that it was a light work out and Porzingis still had a ways to go. Is this article just missing that half of the quote?
Nevermind, here is the accurate quote for those who like full context:
“He did everything the team did,” Mazzulla told reporters. “We’ll go significantly harder tomorrow. Today was kind of moderate, but he went through everything that the team did today.”