Dallas Mavericks Roster
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Dallas Mavericks power forward/center Kristaps Porzingis (knee) has been deemed doubtful to suit up for Saturday's contest against the Rockets as the team attempts to limit his workload in his return from a knee injury. Porzingis participated in a back-to-back earlier in the week, but with Saturday slated to be his fifth game in seven days, Dallas appears to be playing it safe with their All-Star. With the Mavericks still short-handed due to the league's health and safety protocols, James Johnson figures to take on a larger role in the frontcourt, while Tim Hardaway Jr. and Luka Doncic figure to hold down a significant share of the offensive usage. Barring a change of heart, Porzingis' likely next time taking the floor will come Monday versus Denver.
Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic, who finished last week off with a 30-point triple-double against Chicago, was close to one again in Friday's matchup against San Antonio, finishing with 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. He shot 13-for-28 from the field, including 4-for-12 from downtown, and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. Doncic is averaging a 28-11-11 line since the turn of the year, and he'll go for another triple-double on Saturday against the Rockets. Houston didn't find any ways to stop Doncic in the season's first matchup when he went for 33 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.
Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic picked up another triple-double on Wednesday, finishing a 124-112 win over the Pacers with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. He hurt his left knee multiple times in the contest but that appeared to only affect his shooting, as he went 5-for-15 from the field and didn't sink any of his three shots from deep. Luka now has 30 career triple-doubles and five of them have come this season. He managed to finish the game and logged 38 minutes, so it appears that the injury isn't a big issue, which is bad news for the Spurs, who host Luka and the Mavs next. He was all over the Spurs last season in three games, averaging 32.5 points with 13.5 rebounds and 11.3 assists.
Dallas Mavericks forward/center Kristaps Porzingis had the hot hand on Wednesday against Indiana, posting a season-high 27 points on 12-for-15 shooting. He also had 13 rebounds, four assists and one block in the game. Porzingis seems to get better and better with each game, and he has now recorded three consecutive outings with 20-plus points. The Unicorn will have a difficult matchup against the Spurs next, but he should be crushing it again on Saturday against the Rockets, who have been poor defensively against opposing bigs. Porzingis averaged a huge 32-point, 14-rebound double-double against Houston last season.
Dallas Mavericks shooting guard/small forward Josh Richardson has cleared quarantine under the league's COVID-19 protocols, but he does not yet have an update as to when he could return to action, per head coach Rick Carlisle. Richardson has not played since Jan. 7, with multiple members of the team's wings having rotated through the starting five in an attempt to make up for the lack of depth. Richardson is missing his fifth straight game Monday, but he will at least have the chance to begin ramping up his physical activity in the coming days. Fantasy managers can assume he will remain out until getting an update on when he could return.