(Photo : Winslow Townson/Getty Images) BOSTON, MA – Bam Adebayo (#13) of the Miami Heat knocks the ball away from Kristaps Porzingis (#8) of the Boston Celtics during the first quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at TD Garden on April 21, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Betting odds say Boston Celtis’ are the favorites to win the NBA Finals.
The odds could separate them from the Dallas Mavericks further once Kristaps Porzingis.
The team had a light practice on Saturday ahead of their NBA championship series opener with the Mavs on Thursday.
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Porzingis joined the team and did ‘everything’ that his teammates did during the session.
Over at X on May 30, KP already said in Latvian that he would see the fans in the finals.
“Thank you to everyone who supports and sympathizes throughout the season,” he wrote.
“I’ll be back in line soon. See you in the finals ️ and then in the arena with your own.”
The Celts have been very careful in dealing with the Latvian center, who has been out since Game 4 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat.
The 7’1 center left that game after suffering from a right soleus strain.
He was not able to play in the second round against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
KP is one of the three players averaging 20+ points for the Celtics.
His defense is also considered integral to the team’s success during the elimination round.
“He does a great job of just making things difficult,” his teammate Derrick White said after the practice.
“It’s always nice to know that he’s back there, whether he blocks or he doesn’t block. He makes them think about it. That’s been really great having him on our side, just doing the things he did day in and day out. Once he comes back and gets in the flow I think it’s going to be nice.”
Missing him on the court could be over soon.
Mazzulla KP is progressing well, and he is confident he will be available for them in their final assignment, which is to win their first NBA title since 2008.
NBC Sports Boston released clips showing Porzingis participating in drills and shooting shots on the court.
Kristaps Porzingis against his former team
Before joining Boston, Porzingis had an abrupt exit from the Mavericks and got traded to the Washington Wizards.
He was supposed to be the other half of the duo with Western Conference Finals MVP Luka Doncic, but their tandem did not produce desirable results for the front office.
Media said he was traded mid-season because he and Doncic were not getting along.
KP dismissed such a story last December and only said that they partnered up at the wrong time.
When asked which part of his stint could have been improved, he said the communication between them could’ve been better.
“Maturity, for sure. Like again, I am talking [about] what I could have done better,” he said during an appearance at JJ Redick’s podcast.
“And then, I was not that much into analytics and numbers,” Porzingis said. “If somebody, I think, at that stage of my career presented it to me the right way and said, ‘This is what we need to do, this is what we need from you – you are going to be way more effective doing this.’ Like kinda explaining to me better. I think that would have made the difference a little bit.”
KP now has the chance to prove that he did mature after the separation.
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