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With the news that Kristaps Porzingis will miss the rest of the season, the Dallas Mavericks will feature Luka Doncic and Boban Marjanovic in Game 6.
The Dallas Mavericks took a crushing blow earlier this week when Kristaps Porzingis was ruled out for at least the remainder of his first-round NBA playoff series against the LA Clippers with a torn meniscus. Porzingis and Luka Doncic have been the driving force behind the Mavs’ historic offense all season, and Game 6 will be a tough matchup to go into with few players.
The Mavs played without Porzingis in Game 5, and the Clippers unleashed all hell on the offensive end in a ridiculous 154-111 victory. Obviously, Porzingis’ absence wouldn’t have been enough to prevent a 43-point beating, but it wouldn’t have hurt.
Without the Latvian 7’4 ″, the Dallas Mavericks will have to rely on others to step up to Luka Doncic’s side. One candidate to do just that is another 7’4 ″ European, Boban Marjanovic from Serbia. He’s a fan favorite, a movie star, perhaps the NBA’s most popular player and a charmer like no other, and the Mavs will need him to wreak havoc on the Clippers’ defense.
While this season, like most seasons, Boban was used in the workplace against optimal matchups where he can use his unmatched combination of size, touch, and skill, he has been more of a focal point in the playoffs where he played all but one. so far away.
During the season he averaged just 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game, shooting 57.3 percent from the floor thanks to his surreal touch around the basket. In fact, once he gets to the rim, he’s nearly unstoppable, scoring 1,482 points per possession around the basket in the regular season and postless playoffs.
He’s averaging just 13.0 minutes per game in this series, but facing elimination, the Mavs will need his services more than ever.
Boban and Doncic have only played 217 minutes and 459 possessions alongside Porzingis off the court this season, but they have been dominant, outscoring their opponents by 6.7 points per 100 possessions.
When they play without Porzingis, Maxi Kleber, Delon Wright and Seth Curry are their most common roommates, with Wright leading the way. In fact, the trio of Marjanovic, Doncic and Wright are scoring 118.3 points per 100 possessions while giving up just 99.5 for a net rating of 18.8.
These are small samples, but small samples give in to the unknown. Considering the deck is stacked against the Mavs as things stand right now, without their second-best player against a LA Clippers squad fresh off a 154-point offensive outing, none of the known elements are good for them.
The Dallas Mavericks are up against the wall, and as they always knew, their chances of landing an upset against perhaps the NBA’s biggest favorite for this year’s championship will depend on the performances of two European stars.
They aren’t going to be the two European stars the Mavs hoped they would be, but hopefully, for the Texas team, this duo will be more than enough.
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