Is Kristaps Porzingis playing tonight vs Lakers? Mavericks release injury report for big man ahead of Christmas Day Game vs LeBron James and co

Kristaps Porzingis will not be in action against the Lakers tonight, coach Rick Carlisle has confirmed in media availability.

The 7’3″ Latvian big man suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Clippers in August. It turned out to be a torn meniscus, an injury that takes over 3 months to recover from.

Ahead of the injury, KP was playing amazingly well in the NBA Bubble. Given his performances in the first 2 games of the Clippers series, one could envisage the Mavs upsetting them.

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Porzingis will be crucial to the Mavs’ long term championship contention. The 25-year-old has his best years ahead of him. In tandem with Luka, he could form the next great one-two punch of the NBA.

Kristaps Porzingis will not return from meniscus tear till New Year

The former Knicks player has been ruled out from a return to action till January 1 at the very least. He is, however, making good progress from the setback, as can be seen below:

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Both the Mavs and the Lakers will be looking to get their first wins of the season. While the Lakers were beaten by the Clippers on opening night, Doncic and co lost 106-102 to Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns.

The Mavs will be looking to improve upon their 7th placed finish and first round exit from last season this time around. They have made some changes to improve their defense, which was a weakness last season. This has, however, come at the cost of some shooting.