Kristaps Porzingis numbered with days in Dallas?

There was only one difference during another multi-game injury absence for Kristaps Porzingis with the Dallas Mavericks.

Trade rumors surfaced for the first time since the 7’3 ” Let arrived in Dallas as the centerpiece of a successful 2019 deal with the New York Knicks.

Ready to bounce back from a three-game loss due to lower back stiffness, Porzingis brushed off the trade talk, but not in the same direct way that owner Mark Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle have tried to disprove the reports. What the Mavericks were open to proposing.

“It kind of came out, and it is what it is,” Porzingis said Friday, the day before the game in Brooklyn, which could be his second game in New York since the transaction. ‘I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, and I shouldn’t be too worried about it. At the end of the day it can only distract me. “

Coach Rick Carlisle expects 2018 All-Star Player to play Kyrie Irving, James Harden and the Nets if there were no problems on Saturday morning.

Porzingis, 25, missed the first nine games of the season and was recovering from right knee surgery after injuring himself in the first playoff game of his career in the Florida bubble last summer.

Porzingis’ right knee led to a 10-game absence early in his first season in Dallas. He was traded while recovering from a torn ligament in his left knee, injured in what turned out to be his last game with the Knicks in February 2018.

The Mavericks have opted out for the remainder of the 2018/19 season, and he rested eight times with Dallas the second night of consecutive games. This isn’t new, but it never kept him out of the Mavericks for so long.

“I just haven’t had the best of luck,” said Porzingis. “I’m working to make sure my body is strong and durable and that I can play without thinking about anything, without worrying, just being free and enjoying the game that I love.”

In total, Porzingis has missed 32 of 106 games in two regular seasons with the Mavericks, who acquired him in hopes of making teammates with star point guard Luka Doncic. Porzingis also missed half of its six games in a first-round playoff defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers in August.

“The challenge comes with starting the season in mid-December and with no December training, pre-season training or traditional training camp to build a base,” Carlisle said earlier in the week. “We will work on this.”

The above problem occurred after the Mavericks were out of service for a week due to two weather-related postponements. It will be nearly two weeks between games for Porzingis when he plays in Brooklyn.

Porzingis’ offensive play was uneven, as illustrated not long before his last absence, when he scored 15 points on 6 of 14 shots in one game before scoring 36 and eight of 13 3-pointers in the next.

His defense has suffered, with Porzingis ranked at the bottom of the NBA in defensive efficiency averaging 1.6 blocks per game. That would be a career low and is well below his 2.0 career GPA.

“I’ve had situations … in defense, you see with your eyes and your mind and you want to react and you’re half a step late and you’re not there,” said Porzingis. “That is also a frustrating feeling. When you know you can, but you just don’t. “