Dallas Mavericks’ Dwight Powell out for season (and possibly more) with ruptured Achilles
Dallas Mavericks forward Dwight Powell will miss the rest of the season and potentially the start of next season after leaving Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a right Achilles tendon injury.
Powell was helped off the court after the injury late in the first quarter. He’ll have an MRI on Wednesday.
According to a press release from the team, Powell is “weighing his surgical options.”
He has appeared in 40 games, including 37 starts this season, averaging 9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 26.5 minutes per game.
“It’s a somber night with Dwight’s situation,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after a 110-107 loss. “It’s feared to be severe but we won’t know for sure until the diagnostic tests are done.”
Carlisle said he knows Powell will be back. But it might not be until 2021.
“He’s one of the soldiers of this franchise,” Carlisle said. “He’s an upbeat guy. If the news ends up being the worst news, we’ve seen how [J.J.] Barea recovered. He’s a constant team-first guy. Guys like him define the culture we want here. It doesn’t get much tougher than this if it ends up being what we fear it might.”
Luka Doncic, who finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, joined Kristaps Porzingis in wishing Powell a speedy recovery. Porzingis was in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 29 after missing the previous 10 games with a knee injury.
“Obviously, prayers up to Dwight. He’s a great guy. He doesn’t deserve that,” he said. “Off the court and on the court, he gave us a lot. He’s a great guy. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s going to come back stronger, for sure. It’s tough, especially a guy like Dwight. He works his ass off.”
Said Porzingis: “It looks like a bad deal for Dwight, so keeping him in our prayers and hopefully he can come back soon.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 9:04 PM.
