The Dallas Mavericks need Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis to be at the top of their games in order to reach their lofty goals. That, of course, also means staying healthy and on the court, which is something Porzingis has had real trouble doing throughout his career.

Well, we're about a week into the 2021-22 season and Porzingis is already dealing with a back injury that will keep him out of Thursday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs. The Mavs announced that Porzingis, Sterling Brown and Trey Burke are all out, with Boban Marjanovic questionable for the tilt.

Porzingis suffered the injury in the Mavs' victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. He left the game with lower back tightness and didn't return.

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Dallas has to hope that this injury isn't serious and doesn't linger. While it's smart to be cautious early in the season, it's easy to worry about a back injury for a big man, especially given Porzingis' injury history.

Porzingis has missed double-digit games in every season of his career and missed the entire 2018-19 season due to a torn ACL. Last season, the Mavs big man played in 43 of 72 regular-season games and was then mostly an afterthought in the seven-game series loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.

The Latvian big man is now off to a rough start in 2021-22. His production is down again and he's already hurting. Let's hope Porzingis will get healthy and turn things around soon. The leadership council needs him.