Getty Dallas Mavericks star Kristaps Porzingis slam dunks the basketball during a game against the LA Clippers.
The Dallas Mavericks didn’t just lose a game at the American Airlines Center on Monday night (although that certainly did occur). Adding injury to insult during the team’s 114-96 drubbing at the hands of the Cavs was the early exit of star big man Kristaps Porzingis, who has played some of his best basketball recently.
With time expiring at the end of the third quarter, an out-of-control Ricky Rubio drove toward the paint in an effort to beat the clock. While Maxi Kleber was quick to slide into his path and set up for the charge, a trailing Porzingis had also attempted to cut his path off.
The resulting collision did not look good, and Porzingis came up limping as the period closed. Given Zinger’s significant injury history, as well as his importance to Dallas’ equation, alarm bells instantly went off among the Mavs faithful.
However, it looks as though the Unicorn may have dodged a major bullet this time.
Porzingis’ Status for December 1 vs NOLA
As noted by Mavericks coach Jason Kidd after the game, Porzingis twisted his ankle on the play after “he stepped on Maxi’s foot.” Kidd also noted that X-rays came back negative and that the team would see how the big man felt the next day.
Nearly 24 hours have passed as of this writing and, right now, Porzingis is listed as questionable for the Mavs’ Wednesday night road tilt with the New Orleans Pelicans. While that may not bode well for his availability in NOLA, it does make one hopeful that this won’t be a long-term injury for the 2018 NBA All-Star.
It’s a good thing, too, because he had been balling out recently.
After missing five games with low back tightness earlier in the campaign, Porzingis returned to average 23.9 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 51% from the field and 37.7% from three over a nine-game stretch from November 6 to the 23rd.
He exited the Cavs game with nine points, five rebounds and four blocked shots in 26 minutes of play.
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Cavs Coach Praises Dirk
While his club was the more impressive one on Monday, Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff continues to be impressed by what he saw from Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki during the 2011 NBA Playoffs.
“I remember sitting at home and watching those games at just how unstoppable he was,” Bickerstaff said, via Mavs.com. “There was no defensive answer for him, and he helped will his team to a championship… I just remember him being on that logo isolating over there, and there wasn’t time to get a double-team over to him.”
He also raved about Nowitzki’s iconic fadeaway jumper.
“At that time that move was on the level with [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s] sky hook and Michael Jordan’s fadeaway,” he said. “There was no defense that was going to stop it.”
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