Traditionally, anyone who is 7-foot-3 would do most of their damage in the paint. However, they don't call Kristaps Porzingis ‘The Unicorn' for no reason.
The 7-foot-3, 240-pound Latvian big man is shooting a career-high 6.1 three pointers per game this season for the Dallas Mavericks. Part of Porzingis' expanded outside game is him still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in February of 2018.
Porzingis is coming off possibly his best game of the season — a 26-point, 12-rebound game that ended the Milwaukee Bucks' 18-game win streak. However, after shooting 17 three pointers in his last two games, the Mavs' big man is trying to have more of an impact inside.
“Just trying to get to the rim more and shoot threes. It’s still a little weird to shoot eight or nine threes a game. Five is OK for me. That’s what I was more used to,” Porzingis said, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com.
This season, Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 17.2 points and a career-high 9.0 rebounds per game for the Mavs. He is also putting up 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 33.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Porzingis led the Mavs to a win over the Bucks without second-year superstar Luka Doncic, who suffered an ankle injury during Saturday's game against the Miami Heat.
Dallas has been one of the most surprising teams in the league so far. At 18-8, they are sitting in third place in the Western Conference and higher up than most experts expected before the season.
With Doncic being just 20 years old and Porzingis just 24, the Mavs have one of the best young duos in the NBA and should have a bright future ahead of them.
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