‘Doing Good’: Mavs Coach Kidd Shares Kristaps Porzingis Injury Update

Dallas Mavericks star Kristaps Porzingis had his night come to an early conclusion after experiencing a back injury against the Houston Rockets.

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks managed to improve to 2-1 to begin the 2021-22 NBA regular season as the result of a 116-106 win over the Houston Rockets. … but there was a “but.”

Kristaps Porzingis logged 20 minutes of playing time before being ruled out due to back soreness. He finished the night with nine points while going 2-of-10 (20.0 percent) from the field, 1-of-4 (25.0 percent) from beyond the arc with three rebounds.

Kidd updated KP’s status on Wednesday after practice.

Said Kidd: “He’s doing good. He did some work on the floor and we’ll see how he feels. Hopefully he can go."

The Mavericks intended to give all 15 active players on the roster some playing time regardless of Porzinigis' injury status. (See "The Council.'') While he was sidelined, the team received strong production from Boban Marjanovic and Moses Brown. 

"The rest of the bigs played great. Boban [Marjanovic] was great." Kidd said. "You look at Moses [Brown] was great. Everyone who participated -- which was everyone, the whole team, which was kind of cool on opening night that 15 guys played. If we could have played the two-way players, we would have played them, too. This came to me this morning through the council that we have. Those players that I talked to felt this was a great idea, so I was with it."

There is always added attention to the injury status of Porzingis given the track record of his availability at times, or lack thereof. He should have an easier time making regular-season appearances this season as there are no plans of utilizing a load management strategy. 

Additionally, Kidd indicated that Sterling Brown (left ankle sprain) is questionable for the Spurs' game.

The Mavericks return to action on Thursday when they host the San Antonio Spurs. Check back with DallasBasketball.com for updates regarding Porzingis' status as tip-off approaches.