Celtics Finals Media Day notebook: Kristaps Porzingis is officially in and everyone is happy to be here

TD Garden — Well, that was wild. Nearly every Celtics and Mavericks player spoke to the media as reporters from around the world swarmed TD Garden on the day before Game 1 of the Finals.

We watched snippets of the Celtics practice – albeit not much – as well as the tail-end of the Mavericks’. There was a palpable excitement in the air, a distinct feeling in TD Garden that made it obvious the NBA Finals were around the corner.

Here are five things you need to know from NBA Finals Media Day.

Kristaps Porzingis is officially AVAILABLE for Game 1

First, most objectively important: Kristaps Porzingis is available to play.

“​​I will play tomorrow,” Kristaps Porzingis confirmed to a large swath of reporters that swarmed the podium he was at.

But will he be himself?

“It’s tough to say. I haven’t played. I haven’t played for a while. Tomorrow will be my real, like, first real minutes in a while, you know? I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment, but there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get tomorrow. It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this. I did everything I could to prepare for it and we’ll see tomorrow night.”

The Celtics confirmed Kristaps Porzingis’s statement shortly after – no players are listed on the team’s official injury report.

It’s going to be really hard to guard Luka and Kyrie

Holiday was asked about what he can do to try and stop Kyrie Irving, and his first answer was a joking one:

“Pray.”

Then, he noted that familiarity with Irving’s game will help, but echoed Mazzulla’s sentiment from earlier in the week that there’s really no way to ‘stop’ the Mavericks’ elite back-court.

“Just I think knowing each other’s game, doing your best to stay in front of him, trying to take away the things that will probably hurt you the most,” Holiday said. “Probably most of all having help. Him being able to see multiple guys on the court, making it look like it’s crowded, making shots as tough as possible, even though he’s a tough shot-maker, so…” He trailed off.

Jaylen Brown has studied previous failures to be ready for this opportunity

Jaylen Brown has maintained that though he’s reflected on his individual growth since the last time the Celtics were in the Finals, the teams themselves are completely different.

“We got a different team,” Brown said. “We got a different coach, too, as well. We had Ime Udoka;…