Kristaps Porzingis was missed so much by the Dallas Mavericks while he was sidelined the past two weeks that they welcomed him back by ceremoniously drawing up the first play of Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic in his
honor.
Porzingis drained that post-up jumper and finished with 12 of his 19 points in the first quarter as the Mavs powered their way through a workmanlike 108-92 triumph over the Magic at American Airlines Center. It was the Mavs’ eighth win in their last nine games and padded their record to 24-19 heading into Monday’s home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This is the second time this season the Mavs have been as high as five games over .500. The other time was Nov. 15 when they were 9-4.
Saturday was the first game for Porzingis since Dec. 31 at Sacramento. Since then, he missed one game for resting purposes and the next six while in the health and safety protocols.
But the 7-3 forward came out smoking against the Magic as he opened the game with that post-up bucket, then took a feed from Jalen Brunson and jammed it home for an alley-oop dunk. Shortly thereafter, Porzingis nailed a three-pointer to help the Mavs motor ahead, 11-2.
“I felt good,” said Porzingis, who also grabbed seven rebounds in 28 minutes. “First play, post-up, kind of makes me comfortable right off the bat getting that touch there.
“And then just finding the opportunities within the offense, and that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to force anything too much my first game back.”
Porzingis celebrated his return to the court by banging in a three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer that netted him 12 points at that juncture and lifted the Mavs ahead, 32-23. His sterling performance gave the Mavs another weapon as they continue to turn heads in the NBA while steadily making believers out of non-believers.
“He started off the game great, he set the tone, he got to the free throw line,” said head coach Jason Kidd, himself back on the sidelines after missing four games after testing positive for COVID-19. “Going to him on the first play in the post up, he was great.
“You just never know when you’re out that long how someone is going to respond, but I thought he was great.”
While Porzingis was delivering, the Mavs were busy leading wire-to-wire against an Orlando squad that’s 8-36 and has the worst record in the NBA. Dallas led 55-43 at the half, 85-68 after the third quarter and by as many as 23 points in the fourth.
Meanwhile, the Magic shot 48.1 percent from the field and misfired on 19 of their 26 attempts from three-point territory. It was the 20th straight game a Mavs’ opponent has shot less than 50 percent from the field, which is currently the longest active streak in the NBA.
That piece of news hasn’t gone unnoticed by Jamahl Mosley, who was an assistant coach with the Mavs the past seven years before becoming the Magic’s head coach last summer.
“They’ve been phenomenal defensively,” Mosley said. “(They’re) just obviously creating turnovers, getting into the ball.
“Their pick-and-roll coverage has been spot-on. They do a great job of forcing you into tough shots.”
And that’s not all.
“Offensively, obviously understanding that Luka creates so many problems,” Mosley said. “But their other guys are definitely stepping into their role. Stepping in and making shots with a level of comfort and confidence.
“With obviously guys being in and out, they’ve done a great job of filling those roles and guys stepping in and getting the job done.”
The Mavs definitely stepped in and got the job done against the Magic. But with the Mavs just two games into the second half of the season, clearly there’s much more work to be done, and Porzingis being back in the fold and clicking the way he was Saturday certainly helps.
“We missed his rim protection, his ability to space the floor,” said Brunson, who finished with 19 points and two steals. “(He’s) another guy on the scouting report you’ve got to play a certain way.
“He brings a different dimension to this team. We miss him. We were playing well in his absence, but having him back is going to be a plus and I think it showed tonight.”
Luka Doncic led all scorers (23 points) and rebounders (nine), and the Mavs additionally got 17 points off the bench from Tim Hardaway Jr. and also outscored the Magic in the paint, 60-32.
In the meantime, during his two-week absence, Porzingis said: “I had one bad day. The body was hurting and I was sweating all the time — fever and stuff. Then the next day after that was pretty much almost back to normal, like 80 percent.”
And while he was “almost back to normal,” Porzingis went 9-of-12 from the free throw line against the Magic, and his 7-3 presence made a huge difference around the basket.
“We kind of got him going early, got his confidence going a little bit,” Brunson said. “He saw the ball go through the rim, so whenever you see that early it kind of opens the basket for you a little bit.
“He puts the works in. Obviously he had a little bit of a long break, but the repetitions, everything stays the same for him.”
Within that backdrop, the Mavs went into Saturday’s game completely healthy – no injuries or COVID-19 cases — for the first time in seemingly forever. More than anything, lately they’ve played as well as any team in the NBA.
“I think were clicking,” Brunson said. “It’s been a little bit of a weird year, but we’re finally clicking at the right time. We just got to keep it going.
“We can’t be satisfied with what we’ve been able to do these past couple of weeks. We got to just keep pushing the same way we have been.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
Share and comment