All Signs Are Continuing To Point To Kristaps Porzingis Being Ready To Roll For The NBA Finals
Elsa. Getty Images.One of the hardest parts of this year's playoff run for me hasn't been the media narratives, or the stress of playoff basketball, or having to wait through multiple All Star Breaks over the course of 4 rounds.
The hardest part for me personally has easily been trying to force my brain to pretend as if Kristaps Porzingis doesn't exist since the second he got hurt
You see, nobody has any fucking idea what the hell is going on with KP. Just 9 days ago Woj went on TV and told us all that he'd be ready to roll in Game 4 of the ECF
Well, then the Celts went up 3-0 and it made zero sense to bring Porzingis back. He of course did not return. Was that because of the series lead, or his health?
I would imagine someone obviously told Woj that nugget of info and he didn't just go on TV and make it all up, so I tend to lean more towards the "the series was over" angle as opposed to the "he's still really hurt" angle.
Ever since KP went down, I've tried hard to convince myself to approach the rest of the playoff run as if he's never returning. Even if that sounds dramatic, you have to understand where this all stems from.
I was told in 2009 that KG's knee injury was no big deal, just a bruise or whatever and he would be fine by the playoffs.
He played 0 playoff seconds in 2009.
I was told Shaq's injury was no big deal in 2010-11 and he would be fine for the playoffs.
He played a total of 2 games and 12 minutes in the playoffs.
I was told Isaiah's hip injury was no big deal.
It basically ended his career.
I was told Rob Williams and Malcolm Brogdon's injuries weren't a big deal.
They very much were.
So naturally when it came to KP, I figured it made sense to prepare myself for the worst, and anything else would be icing on the cake. Now that it'll be around 5.5 weeks from his injury by the time the Finals start, we have new reporting to consider
▪ We’ve reported here all along that the Celtics are reluctant to provide a timeline for Kristaps Porzingis’s return from the calf strain he suffered April 28 because they just don’t know.
It has taken slightly longer than some initial internal projections, but league sources stressed this week that Porzingis has not suffered any setbacks and remains on track to be back during the Finals. The team obviously will monitor his progress closely in the coming days.
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Now, the wording here I feel is pretty important.
Is there a difference between "remains on track to be back for the Finals" and "remains on track to be back during the Finals"?
Technically, Game 1 would be "during" the Finals, but phrased like that has me thinking maybe it's actually going to be later in the series? Am I overthinking this because of this long ass waiting period and my nerves for the Finals? I can't rule that out, but things have been so top secret in regards to KP that any nugget of info we get is going to be dissected down to the word.
All year I'd say most Celts fans had one wish. Give us a healthy KP if this team was able to make the Finals. That's why Brad traded for him, that's why they were cautious all year with his health, and there's no denying the difference he makes on both ends of the floor
And while the Celts have kept things moving without him, personally I'd prefer to have the 7'2 basketball unicorn on the floor for the race towards these final 4 wins.
I also can't forget what KP himself had to say yesterday
Thank you to everyone who supports and sympathizes throughout the season. I'll be back in line soon. See you in the finals and then in the arena with your own
So maybe it is OK to start to believe? I dunno, this might be one of those situations where until we see the injury report and it says
Kristaps Porzingis - AVAILABLE
it's still better to have the mindset that we won't see him. Logic says they're being smart and overly cautious which is good, Celtics history tells us it's not as good of a situation as we're being led to believe. It's quite the pickle to deal with while we all wait around for June 6th to finally get here.
What I do know is unlike Woj, Adam Himmelsbach has never lied to us. When you want to know the real deal when it comes to this team, you wait for Adam. Whether you take his latest reporting as good news or not so good news is up to you, but for me, I'm choosing to believe.