The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 110-107 on Tuesday. Despite the close loss, Mavs star big man Kristaps Porzingis took the blame for the team's defeat.
“I feel like if I’d have played just a little bit better, we’d have won this game. So this loss is on me,” Porzingis said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
In 27 minutes of play, Porzingis struggled and shot just 4-of-17 from the field and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc, ending the game with just 10 points and nine rebounds. KP also had five fouls and two turnovers in a horrendous showing.
However, Tuesday marked Porzingis' first game back from a 10-game absence brought on by a knee injury he suffered in December.
Other than his poor performance against the Clippers, the 7-foot-3 power forward has played fairly well in his first season with the Mavs.
Porzingis has played in 32 of Dallas' 43 games this season, averaging 17.3 points and a career-high 9.4 rebounds per game. At the same time, however, the 24-year-old is shooting a career-low 40.3 percent from the field and just 34.3 percent from deep.
Additionally, Porzingis will likely be expected to step up his play for the rest of the season after Mavs starting center Dwight Powell went down with a non-contact right Achilles injury in the first quarter of Tuesday's game.
Powell is expected to miss the remainder of the season, leaving Kristaps Porzingis to shoulder more of the load for the Mavs.
Going into the game, the Mavs were on a four-game winning streak. With the loss, Dallas falls to 27-16 on the season, which puts them in fifth place in the ever-challenging Western Conference
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