Celtics' Kristaps Porziņģis Wants to Play in NBA Finals Amid Injury: 'I Feel Good'

Kristaps Porziņģis wants to be on the floor for Wednesday's Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals.

"Let me play," the Boston Celtics big man told reporters when discussing what he is telling his team's training staff. "I feel good. Let's do treatment. Obviously, yeah I can't trick them into making me or allowing me to play, but I will try."

The Celtics announced that Porziņģis is questionable for Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks because of a left posterior tibialis dislocation and provided more details, including that it isn't related to the right calf injury that sidelined him for most of the Eastern Conference playoffs:

That Porziņģis said he wants to play comes as no surprise.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the big man is "determined and expects to continue to try and play," although Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla classified the setback as a "serious injury" and stressed that the player himself won't be the one making the decision about whether he will take the court:

Not having Porziņģis available would certainly be a blow to the Celtics, especially after he showed what he was capable of in a 107-89 victory in Game 1.

He finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from deep off the bench. The energy he provided fired up the crowd, and the Mavericks were never able to fully recover from his initial impact.

While he was limited to just 23 minutes in Game 2, he still finished with 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks on 4-of-7 shooting.

Fortunately for Boston, it has been able to survive questions about Porziņģis' health throughout the playoffs and also has a 2-0 cushion in the Finals. He suffered his calf injury during the first-round win over the Miami Heat and was sidelined for the entire second round against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

The Celtics lost just one combined game in those two series, although the Mavericks with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving is a more daunting challenge.

If Porziņģis is sidelined, Boston will likely rely even more on Al Horford in the frontcourt.