The Mavericks are in good shape to avoid a play-in game, but they may have to finish the regular season without big men Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
Porzingis has already been declared out for today’s game against the Cavaliers, marking the sixth straight game he will miss and the ninth in the last 10 games. He suffered a sprained left ankle on March 22, then returned three games later and had to leave with soreness in his right knee. He tested the knee before Friday’s game, shooting for about 15 minutes.
Kleber has sat out the past three games with pain in his right Achilles. He is officially listed as questionable for today, but coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t expect him to play.
“Not having Kleber or Porzingis puts us in a more precarious situation,” Carlisle said. “But we’ve just got to figure it out. Five games left. Every game is super meaningful. We understand it. We’re just going to stay in the present, stick to the process and keep working.”
Here are some more injury-related updates:
- Celtics forward Jaylen Brown will miss today’s showdown with the Heat because of a sprained right ankle, tweets Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. The team had hoped Brown could be ready, but he will sit out his third straight game. Robert Williams is considered probable for today with turf toe, but coach Brad Stevens said there will be a lot of game-time decisions for him for the rest of the season, Murphy adds (via Twitter).
- Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter will be a game-time decision at best on Monday, according to Kevin Chouinard of NBA.com (Twitter link). Coach Nate McMillan indicated that a final decision will be made after today’s practice and Monday’s walkthrough. Hunter has missed the past 24 games and has only played twice since January 29.
- Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. is dealing with blurry vision and slightly impaired depth perception, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. He will miss tonight’s game with a left eye abrasion (Twitter link).
- Rockets coach Stephen Silas said there’s no timetable for a return by guard Avery Bradley, who is out for personal reasons, relays Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston (Twitter link).
Prozinglass
The Knicks deserve a lottery pick!
Then they should trade for one. A lot of teams do it.
Appreciate throwing in THJ. Good choice.
That Porzingis extension is a joke. He isn’t close to living up to it. Nelson and Cuban better get another star to pair with Luka because the clock on his time there will start ticking if they don’t.
I’ve been saying it since the trade. When will Mark call me to fix this. If you are going with KP and the extension says you are. You have to protect him. FIRST …… He Is Not Dirk. He is 7’ 3”. He has to play the 5. You will only get him hurt chasing a 4 or a wing. Play some zone with him. More important Gain Weight n muscle. You can still shoot with 25 more pounds. Get a big 4 like Robert Williams, Vernon Carey, Stewart. To reb and protect him with their physical play on D. KP can rim protect withou taking a beating that way. He can still shoot on O. Or even post when they put a small wing on him. You have to be smart with his mins. Protect him with physical 4s. But most important. Put on 25-35 LBs of muscle. What are you waiting for. For the next serious injury. Wake up Mark, I’m available.
Wendell Carter sound drunk as hell!
KP has played 40 games…Embiid has played 49…Anthony Davis has played 33…Harden has played 42…Durant 31…Lebron 43…Kahwi 50…CJ McCollum 43…Kemba Walker 42…Mike Conley 49..Hayward 44…Al Horford 28 games…lot of missed games by max players but KP hears it loudest. That said, KP doesn’t seem like he can be the number 2 guy in Dallas because he’s hurt too much. Dallas should have max money this summer to throw at somebody and I hope they get an all star level power forward that can pick and pop and pick and roll with Luka while playing 90% of the games. As far as preserving and maximizing KP in lineups without Luka, I’d pair him with an athletic back-up center who can can be paid relatively cheaply because of obvious offensive or defensive deficiencies. A bench team built around KP/Brunson and a center like Enes Kanter should be as good as any bench team in the league.