BOSTON — The Celtics and Mavericks will finally open the NBA Finals on Thursday after both teams were off for several days after the conference finals. That’s what happens after the C’s swept the Pacers and the Mavs beat the Timberwolves in five games.
In the meantime, it’s been all about Kyrie Irving’s return to Boston. Or Kristaps Porzingis’ injury situation. Or if Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown like each other. Or whatever storyline is in the news cycle on any given days leading up to Game 1, set for Thursday. At the forefront, too, is Porzingis’ return to Dallas after spending multiple seasons as Luka Doncic’s running mate.
But Porzingis declined to talk about his Mavericks past life much, instead focusing on the task at hand. He had plenty of complimentary words for Dallas and the organization, but didn’t go into detail about why his Mavs tenure ended up abruptly back in 2022.
“Obviously, it didn’t work out” Porzingis said after Celtics practice Tuesday. “Didn’t work out. I think it was, once the trade happened — I don’t know. … I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m focused on the job ahead. We can talk about that later, brother.”
When the Mavs traded for Porzingis from the Knicks, the vision was to pair the talented big man with their growing star in Doncic. But the two never meshed well as Porzingis had injury and availability issues; the fit also wasn’t there. So Porzingis was unceremoniously traded at the 2022 deadline to the Wizards, ending the awkward fit between the two players.
But both sides have found success since then. The Mavs went to the 2022 West Finals and they’re now in their third-ever NBA Finals as Doncic has continued to elevate his stardom. Porzingis had a career-best season in Washington, which is why the C’s traded for him last summer. And the big man has rehabilitated his image this season, playing some great ball for the league-best Celtics.
Now, for Porzingis, it’s all about getting back on the court at full strength. That appears to be the case heading into Game 1 as the Celtics will be whole again for the first time since the first round in April. It’ll be all about the basketball from there after plenty of narratives were thrown around in the past week. For what it’s worth, Doncic himself also declined to get into the specifics of Porzingis’ time in Dallas as he also looked toward the Finals.
“Me and KP have a good relationship; I don’t know why people say otherwise,” Doncic told reporters. “It didn’t work out. I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m thinking about the job ahead. We can think about that later.”
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