The Dallas Mavericks have struggled in the last few games without star point guard, Luka Doncic. Doncic hurt his ankle late in the game against the Denver Nuggets last week and has not been able to get back on the court since.
The team has gone 0-3 without him, losing twice to the red-hot Phoenix Suns and once to the LA Clippers. While the results aren’t as positive as they had hoped for, the Mavericks certainly have to be happy about the current play of Kristaps Porzingis.
Porzingis has failed to live up to expectations since Dallas acquired him in a trade with the New York Knicks. He has battled some injuries and inconsistencies as he was not a fan of his role with the team.
This season got off to a bumpy start again as Porzingis shot 30.2 percent from the field in the first three games of the season and 23.5 percent from 3-point land. He averaged 12.7 points, six rebounds and two blocks per game before being sidelined again with an injury.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Kings-Mavericks Trade Is Focused On De’Aaron Fox
He missed five games, but since returning, he has finally gotten things going. The Porzingis we have seen since November 6th is the Porzingis the Dallas Mavericks thought they would be getting from New York.
In his last eight games, Porzingis has scored at least 21 points in all but one game. He is averaging 23.1 points per game, making 50.4 percent of his shot attempts, 37.5 percent of his 3-point attempts and 91.2 percent of his foul shots. He is doing it on decent volume as well, averaging 16.9 shot attempts per game, six of which are coming from distance.
He is doing an excellent job on the glass, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game, recording three double-doubles in the process. The 2.5 assists per game are a huge improvement as well, as he had only two total in the first three games of the season. Porzingis has also recorded 11 blocks, seven steals and committed only 22 fouls and 10 turnovers in that span of time.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Kings-Mavericks Trade Is Focused On De’Aaron Fox
While the victories haven’t come along with the good play recently, Dallas has to be happy about the direction Kristaps Porzingis seems to be heading in. They need him to continue producing at a high level for them to reach the heights they know they are capable of achieving.
