The Dallas Mavericks have ruled out forward Kristaps Porzingis for Saturday’s back-to-back game against the Phoenix Suns due to injury management. Porzingis is still working his way back into playing shape following knee surgery in early October.  The Mavs are currently 13th in the Western Conference, three games under .500. 

Porzingis averaged 15 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 36% from the field and 20% from long range in his last three games, which were all losses for the Mavs.

His absence in Saturday’s game will add to a constant trend of the Mavericks being short-handed. Dallas was one of the teams hit hard by COVID-19 throughout January, recently welcoming back key rotation players after weeks of absence. Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell, and Josh Richardson all missed at least two weeks of team activities after contracting the virus, while Maxi Kleber has yet to make his return to action.

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Regardless of the COVID-19 woe, Dallas is playing far below expectations. Mavs star Luka Doncic has even voiced his displeasure with the team's poor play. 

After their Friday night 120-101 loss to the Utah Jazz, Doncic told the media that he felt terrible. He explained that he was frustrated with himself and his team’s poor effort not only in that game but throughout the season. The Mavericks are currently 8-11 and have lost by double digits in five games. To add to all of that frustration, the Mavs were ran off the court by a Jazz team missing their star player Donovan Mitchell.

“I never felt like this,” said Doncic in his media availability after Friday’s game. “We've got to do something because this is not looking good. We've got to step up and just talk to each other and play way better than this. It's mostly effort.”

The Mavs will hope to gain some momentum despite Porzingis’ absence. They will have to do so against Chris Paul and the Pheonix Suns, currently coming off of a hot-shooting game against the Golden State Warriors. Dallas will have to defend the three-point line and limit transition opportunities to have a chance in Saturday’s game.