Dwight Powell Makes Mavs History, Gets Kevin Durant Praise

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant knows all too well how hard it is to come back from rupturing an Achilles, and he has a lot of respect for what Dallas Mavericks center Dwight Powell has been able to do.

Dalton Trigg | Apr 9, 2022

Suffering an Achilles rupture has historically been one of the most devastating injuries an NBA players can endure. Very rarely does a player come back from that severe of an injury and recover 100 percent.

However, Dallas Mavericks big man Dwight Powell has defied those odds this season, and he's getting much-deserved recognition from not only his team and the Dallas fan base, but also from Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant, who has also been able to return to form from his own Achilles injury in the 2019 NBA Finals.

gettyimages-1390393636-594x594 — Tim Heitman/Getty Images

The Mavs secured home-court advantage for the first time since 2011.

USATSI_18047315 — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic scored 39 points in less than 30 minutes on Friday night.

Dwight Powell, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Dwight Powell throws down a dunk vs. the Blazers.

"[Shoutout to] Dwight Powell," tweeted Durant on Saturday. "[He] made that Achilles injury look like nothing."

After playing in just 58 games last season, which was his first season back from the injury, Powell has played in 81 games this season for the Mavs and appears to be poised to extend that to 82 games on Sunday when Dallas takes on the San Antonio Spurs in the season finale. Powell would be one of just four players in the league to play in every single game, including Mikal Bridges (Phoenix Suns), Saddiq Bey (Detroit Pistons) and Deni Avdija (Washington Wizards).

Not only has Powell become an iron man for the Mavs, but he's also had one of the most efficient shooting seasons in franchise history. Powell is only averaging 8.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, but he's shooting a career-best 66.8 percent from the field. That is the third-best overall shooting percentage in Mavs history (minimum of 200 attempts). Tyson Chandler is second on the list, as he shot 66.6 percent from the field during the 2014 season, and Brandan Wright is first, as he shot 67.7 percent during the 2013 season.

USATSI_18047314 — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Powell throws down a reverse jam.

USATSI_18047337 — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic received his 16th technical foul on Friday. Will it be rescinded?

Dallas Mavericks, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Dwight Powell — Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Powell wrestles with Antetokounmpo for the ball.

Powell, who will be entering the final year of his contract this summer, has established some extremely strong chemistry with his superstar teammate, Luka Doncic. The duo has been deadly in the pick-and-roll game this season, as Powell is averaging 1.43 points per possession as a roll man. Doncic has recorded 121 assists to Powell this season, which accounts for 21.6 percent his overall assists total.

In the 25 games since the Mavs traded Kristaps Porzingis, Powell is averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting an incredible 70.1 percent from the field. In his last 10 games, Powell is averaging 13.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 78.5 percent from the field.

It remains to be seen how much of Powell's regular-season success can translate over to postseason play, but the fact that the Mavs won't have to deal with a fully-healthy Los Angeles Clippers team this time around bodes well for him – at least in a potential first-round matchup against either the Denver Nuggets or the Utah Jazz.

Published Apr 9, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.