Porzingis is going on the right steps in Mavs win over the Raptors

Despite struggling to hit shots from beyond the arc (23% on 9-39 shooting), Dallas still was able to find their ways to put the ball into the basket with a result of 50 points in the paint. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis shot a combined 2-12 from deep, however, they were a much better 10-22 on 2 point shots. Kristaps Porzingis felt pleased about his role in his team’s offense with his second consecutive 20 point scoring performance on Saturday night match.

Porzingis is going on the right steps in Mavs win over the Raptors

After the game, Porzingis said it felt more natural that day, not as forced. The team’s offense was more fluid. He was just trying to be in the flow of the offense.

On the other hand, the team defense was so admirable overall, especially Maxi Kleber’s great efforts defending Raptors star Pascal Siakam, holding the wing to a paltry 6-24 shooting performance while there was plenty of those shots heavily defended at the rim. Actually, he deserves a ton of praise!

“That was mostly his responsibility, Maxi’s versatility on defense is a really big factor for us.”, Rick Carlisle said of Kleber’s efforts on Siakam. The Mavs were able to hold Siakam to just 4 missed shots and 3 costly turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Extra Thoughts
Luka Doncic set his new career high with nineteen free throw attempts. Although he missed four of them, the rest of fifteen points at free throw line were definitely the key to increasing his total scores to 26 points after a night when he shot just 5-14 from the field.

Delon Wright made his impact in his first game against the team which drafted him back in 2016. His line of 15 points, 3 steals and 4 rebounds in only 19 minutes definitely deserves being proud of as the guard seems to carve out a consistent level of playing time in Rick Carlisle’s system.  After the game, Rick Carlisle said “It certainly didn’t get the buildup that the New York game got”. Wright understood why he said, “Well I’m not Kristaps” with a smile when his coach’s comment was brought to his attention by the media after the game.