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Dallas Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis will have to wait at least one more day to make his preseason debut with the team.
Coach Rick Carlisle told reporters at Tuesday’s shootaround the Porzingis will not play against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. However, Porzingis is expected to suit up on Wednesday when the Mavs visit the Detroit Pistons (7 ET, NBA League Pass). The team had planned on keeping Porzingis out of back-to-back games in the preseason.
No cause for alarm. Just the way the preseason schedule sets up with home opener Friday. https://t.co/dPuHnF0qTb
— Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) October 8, 2019
Mavs had a hard practice yesterday and play tomorrow night in Detroit. They will err on side of caution when it comes to pushing Porzingis on back-to-back days, especially early in the season. https://t.co/wyLPkE016M
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) October 8, 2019
At Mavericks media day, Carlisle had said he hoped Porzingis would play in one of the team’s preseason games.
Porzingis did not play a game for the Mavs last season as he continued to recover from the torn left ACL he suffered in February of 2018 with the Knicks. The last time Porzingis played was in the 2017-18 season, a year in which he was named an All-Star and averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.4 blocks per game.
Dallas acquired Porzingis in an early-February trade with New York last season.
