The Dallas Mavericks took a 2-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, but Kristaps Porzingis is warning his teammates against being overly confident.
The Mavs forward said his team should expect to win, adding he even felt Dallas was perhaps not stoic enough after Game 2:
“We expect that from ourselves,” Porzingis said, via Tim Cato of The Athletic. “I even thought we celebrated a bit too much. We just won the second game. We're not nowhere yet. That's a good step where we want to go.”
Indeed, the Mavs have quite a bit of work to do before the series is really over. However, a rejuvenated Porzingis could give Dallas the upper hand.
Porzingis struggled tremendously in Game 1, shooting just 4-for-13 from the field. But the 25-year-old rebounded with a strong performance in Game 2, scoring 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting and making his mark on the defensive end with three steals and a pair of blocks.
The Mavs could be incredibly difficult to beat if Porzingis is maintaining that level of efficiency on both ends. Luka Doncic has been nothing short of superlative through the first two games, and the Clippers have not been able to stop the Mavs' perimeter onslaught.
Still, it's the playoffs. Anything can happen. The Clippers led the Mavs 2-0 in last year's playoffs before Dallas made things interesting by evening the series.
Porzingis' injury in the 2020 playoffs had a pretty sizable impact in Dallas' inability to close the deal last season. But he's healthy this time around, and hoping his Mavs teammates do not get too high as they look to emphatically put the Clippers away.
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