That rather frightening scene that played out in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves when center Dwight Powell left the court holding his left wrist wasn’t as bad as it appeared.
X-rays showed no structural damage was done to Powell, who got pinned on a play between Mavericks teammate Kristaps Porzingis and Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins.
Powell practiced Friday and said he’ll be ready to play when the Mavs (15-6) host the New Orleans Pelicans (6-16) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at American Airlines Center.
“I feel good — no serious injury,” Powell said. “It probably was the shock of things – a weird scenario.
“It’s part of the game. It’s hard to predict those type of things. Fortunately, it’s nothing serious.”
Meanwhile, thanks to Friday’s NBA results that saw Boston defeating Denver, 108-95, and Milwaukee upending the Los Angels Clippers, 119-91, the Mavs have climbed from the No. 4 seed in the rugged Western Conference all the way to the No. 2 seed. And the Mavs are 1-1 against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
The only team playing better basketball over the last 10 games than the Mavs are the Milwaukee Bucks, who are a perfect 10-for-10 in their last 10 games.
Indeed, coupled with their terrific start to this season, the Mavs realize the way Powell reacted when his injury occurred, this could have been something more serious.
”It’s sore,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s gotten better each day, so we got lucky there.
“It was a very unusual thing that happened. At the end of a play he kind of flailed his arm out and hit Porzingis in the hip and it caused a pretty significant bruise, but he’s going to want to play, regardless.”
At the time of the injury, Powell was closing in on his best game ever. The six-year veteran finished the night with 24 points – two points shy of his career-high – and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the field.
“Guys found me on time and on target, and thankfully I was in a position where I was ready to take advantage of those opportunities,” Powell said. “I think we moved the ball great on offense.
“We had a lot of good possessions where a lot of guys were touching it. I was in a groove a little bit.”
It’s a groove Powell hopes the Mavs can remain in when they host the Pelicans on Saturday.
“I think we have a great balance of guys, skill-wise, in the various positions,” Powell said. “But also we get along well off the court, which I think is important, especially now in this day and age with so much coming from the outside as far as media and social medial and people trying to have their influence on things.
“It’s good that inside the gym, inside the locker room, we’ve got a solid understanding of what we all need from each other and we enjoy each other’s presence.”
Several of the Mavs spent time in Miami this past summer working out, bonding and getting to know each other, with guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who has an offseason home in Miami, serving as the host.
“There’s been a bunch of things that have contributed to our chemistry,” Powell said. “I think spending time is the most important thing.
“Even like right now practice is over and we’ve got guys working out and competing. We’ve got guys talking, coaches talking with each other, spending time with each other. No one’s racing out of here. The same thing before practice.”
And the time that the players spend together isn’t just reserved for in the gym.
“On off days, there’s even guys getting together and either coming in here and working, or spending time together outside of the gym,” Powell said. “I think just being able to have open lines of communicating, whether it’s about basketball or not, it leaves the channels open for when there is something that needs to be discussed that’s pertinent to our job, it’s easier.”
It’s easier also for the Mavs to stack wins over wins, Powell noted, as long as they have various players contributing and not just leave it all on the doorsteps of point guard Luka Doncic, who have proven that he is one of the top three best players in the entire NBA.
“I think one positive about our team and the way we play and the way we’ve been able to win is we have different guys contributing every night in different ways,” Powell said. “Obviously, Luka is going to do what he does and bring a massive amount of volume as far as production, but we have guys on the first unit and second unit that step up on different nights.
“So I think statistics for us are something that people maybe want to take a look at (during) the end of the year. But as for now, we’re trying to put numbers in the win column and whatever the matchups are, whatever the scenario is every night, I’m glad we have a team that can remain mature and positive and step up when we really need it.”
And Powell knows part of stepping up also includes stepping up on the defensive end of the floor.
“I think defensively we’ve found ways to buy in more and understand our schemes and follow them more accurately,” he said. “I think that comes with continually getting used to each other on that end of the court. I think offensively we have a lot of weapons and a lot of tools, and like I said before, different guys stepping up on different nights.
“So I think that hopefully will continue and continue to improve even more. But defensively I think in the last stretch we’ve found ways to do that together. We found ways to step up for each other and on different nights, different matchups, guys stepping up and making sure they’re doing everything they can to help us win.”
With the wins come larger targets placed on the Mavs’ back. Especially since the Mavs already have pieced together road victories over Denver, Houston, Phoenix and the Lakers – teams in the highly competitive Western Conference that would be in the playoffs if it started today.
“It shows us what we’re capable of and I think it motivates us to continue to work even harder to maintain that level of success,” Powell said. “But when you win in places like that, you’re telling yourself what you’re capable of.
“So you have to make sure you prepare to that level every night and treat every game like it’s those types of situations so that we can maintain consistency. Especially with the attention Luka brings, we’re getting guy’s best games, we’re going to get more detailed scouts on all of our guys coming at us. That just means we have to prepare that way every night.”
That also means the Mavs have to continue getting production from Powell, who has averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds over his last three games.
“We trust that he’ll be better tomorrow,” Carlisle said. “He probably will be listed as questionable — pending how he’s feeling in the morning.
“But all in all, it could be a lot worse.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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