The Celtics veteran talks about playing without Porzingis

Porzingis has not played since April 30, when he suffered a calf muscle injury in his right leg. The Latvian basketball player had to leave early the fourth match of the first stage of the playoffs against the Miami Heat.

“Celtics” had enough with five games both against the Florida team and against the Cleveland “Cavaliers” in the next “play-off” round (4-1). On the other hand, in the finals of the Eastern Conference, the Bostonians already won four matches, dry eliminating the Indiana Pacers and advancing to the NBA Finals.

“Celtics” forward Horford took care of the gap left by Porzingis. He averaged almost ten more minutes in the Eastern Conference Finals than he did in the regular season.

After the series win against the Pacers, the 37-year-old Horford was asked about that extra burden he’s taken on since Porzingis’ injury.

“I continue to do everything I can to improve the team’s chances of winning. That’s always been my focus. Looking for ways to help the team both offensively and defensively. I’ll make more shots if I’m asked to. If I need to pass more like today, I’ll do it. I just want to win. We have a team where everyone has that mindset. That’s why everything seems so simple to us.”

It was previously reported that Porzingis would return for Game 4 against the Pacers. However, the “Celtics” chose not to remove the Latvian from the list of injured players yet.

On June 7, the Boston team will begin the battle for the NBA title. It will probably be the first time a Latvian will participate in the final series.