Friday night, the Dallas Mavericks showed a good face against the Los Angeles Clippers, beating the Californians, 122-114 at home, behind Kristaps Porzingis’ 15 points.
After two failed previous campaigns, the Latvian big man enters a season full of challenges where the Mavs will try to have a deep playoff run. He’s expected to lead this team alongside Luka Doncic and the former New York Knicks player is ready for everything.
During the offseason, Dallas made some interesting changes, including parting ways with Rick Carlisle and bringing in Jason Kidd to replace the now Indiana Pacers coach.
Porzingis is already seeing the changes around the team, praising Kidd’s system while throwing some shade at Carlisle.
After 3 blocks and 2 steals in one half tonight, Kristaps Porzingis said he’s taken “a huge step” to feeling healthy and mobile on defense this season.
Jason Kidd’s new system helps, too.
KP: “A few things are different. A few things are, I’d say, a bit clearer than last year.”
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) October 9, 2021
“A few things are different. A few things are, I’d say, a bit clearer than last year,” he said following the Mavericks-Clippers duel.
The Mavs still have big expectations for the Porzingis-Doncic duo, and adding Kidd to the team fuels them. The former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach has shown his excitement to get a team with two exciting stars.
A lot has been said about Porzingis and Doncic’s relationship, but they’ve shut down those rumors. If they can work things out, this team could make some noise in the West this campaign.
Kristaps finished Friday’s night game with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 19 minutes of action.
