Kristaps Porzingis is most likely livid at how things turned out in the 4th quarter against the Bulls. He’s especially cross at not getting a shot in clutch.
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The Mavericks squandered an opportunity to close the gap on the free-falling Lakers last night. They succumbed to a road loss to the tanking Houston Rockets, losing 102-93 on the night.
Luka Doncic was guilty of forcing it too much on a night when he was off the mark. Luka ended the game with 23 points despite taking 26 shots. John Wall, who looked washed for long stretches of this season, outplayed the Mavs’ leader with 31 points on 23 shots.
Christian Wood gave him admirable support with 22 points on 17 shots. Wood made 5 of his 8 3-point shots for an efficient night. Jalen Brunson was unable to make his characteristic impact on the night.
Kristaps Porzingis appears frustrated at his 4th quarter freezeout
Porzingis has had an up and down career with the Mavs thus far. He looked to be rounding into top form at the Orlando bubble, but that was cut short by a torn meniscus which he suffered in Game 2 against the Clippers.
But this did not do much for KP, as he did not get a single shot in the last 7 minutes. Porzingis was definitely frustrated by this. He showed it when ESPN’s Tim MacMahon asked him why he thought he couldn’t feature in the final period:
“Good question. It’s just the plays we were running. Happened before also.”
The above response displays a certain degree of frustration with Rick Carlisle for not featuring him more prominently.
KP has yet to get back to his bubble form, but there are nights when he does threaten to go off. Last night was one of those occasions. For most of his minutes, Porzingis played an aggressive style. He was efficient from inside and outside, and generally the Mavs’ biggest difference-maker as Luka had a torrid game.
