No. 3 playoff seed within reach for Dallas Mavericks ... if Porzingis can stay healthy
The return of Kristaps Porzingis should have meant the designed Dallas Mavericks were finally ready to play together.
That aspiration is yet another COVID casualty.
Thanks to our world-ruining friend, the season-debut of KP did not include teammates Jalen Brunson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, Dwight Powell and Josh Richardson.
They were out against Charlotte on Wednesday because of “Health and Safety Protocols,” i.e. COVID.
Although the Mavs were smoked by the Hornets in their own home opener on Dec. 30, even with a limited roster they popped the same team on Wednesday night, 104-93.
“It’s finally here,” Porzingis said in a Zoom call with the media after the game. “We’re missing a lot of guys, still.”
Porzingis played 21 minutes, and scored 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He had four rebounds, and was 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
“Think everybody feels a lot better now that KP is back in the mix,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said.
The Mavs led 32-16 after the first quarter, and the rest of the game could have featured a running clock.
Because nothing about the Mavericks can be said without mentioning Luka Doncic’s stat line, he scored 34 points with 13 rebounds, four blocks and nine assists. I guess he’s not fat anymore.
“When both of those guys are out there it’s a game changer for us,” said Carlisle, who with the win now is one of 16 NBA coaches with 800 career victories.
“You have two guys who can play on the inside, and space it on the outside. They can put the ball on the floor and make plays. You’ve got two franchise players on the floor together; it’s important to have them on the floor to play.”
The NBA Bubble was a pain, and was untenable for anything more than a glorified tournament, but it was better basketball than this.
Nonetheless, KP’s return means his march to prove he can remain healthy and help carry this team to the third seed in the Western Conference.
With Luka Doncic playing more like Luka Doncic, and a healthy KP, aspiring to the third seed is a plausible goal. It’s not easy.
No. 3 depends on whether KP remains healthy.
“We’re going to need him, a lot,” Doncic said.
KP missed the first nine games of this regular season as he came back from a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, which he suffered in August in the Mavs’ playoff series against the LA Clippers.
He had the surgery in October. And there is always the torn left ACL he suffered with the New York Knicks in 2018. In between those injuries he had some “soreness” and other issues that would make any NBA team sweat.
“Today, I felt way better than when I came back from the ACL,” Porzingis said.
With center Willie Cauley-Stein and KP at the 5 and 4, the Mavs could pose a serious matchup problem for just about every team, except for maybe the Milwaukee Bucks and LA Lakers, both of which are height-heavy.
When their “COVID cases” return, the Mavericks should be dramatically better defensively.
Doncic makes it all go, but the Mavs aren’t not going to reach No. 3, and beyond, unless KP proves he can be on the floor.
That process has started.
