Kristaps Porzingis will provide a much-needed boost to noon Dallas Mavericks

Following Wednesday’s practice, Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle gave news to the media that star Kristaps Porzingis should return to the lineup in about 7-10 days, but was ruled out for Thursday’s national game in Denver against the Nuggets.

The 25-year-old ripped the meniscus on his right knee when Dallas lost the first playoff round to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Orlando bubble in August and has not played since.

“It’s been looking good all the time on the threshold,” said Carlisle. “Everything from post-surgery re-surgery through starting to be in the weight room, to starting on the court. Everything has gone without question, that’s fine. ”

The Mavs have had a 3-4 uneven start among a difficult opening record. Five of the team’s games have been away from American Airlines Center, including an opening night loss to Phoenix, a losing streak against the Los Angeles Lakers and a historic 50-point win over the Clippers. Their own home win was against defending champion Miami Heat.

As Carlisle said, Dallas has allowed him to earn 85 points and lose 120 points. It does not take a mathematical feature to understand where the team needs to improve.

“We’re definitely capable of stopping boys,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “If we hang our hats on defense, our pictures will start to fall off. ”

While Porzingis may not be the best defensive player out there, but his size and length would certainly help the Mavs team that came into Wednesday’s games 11th in defensive efficiency, 12th in rebound percentage defense and 22nd in offensive rebound percentage. But after averaging 20.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game last season, the 7-foot-3 Latvian would help even more than Dallas, where the team is 14th in effectiveness after finishing with the offense. most effective in league history at 115.8 points per 100 possessions for the season.

But for an old-school coach like Carlisle, especially entering a matchup against Denver’s highly talented offense, it’s no surprise that defense is his current priority.

“This is a very challenging road game for us,” he said. “We have to decide that our bread with butter has the protective end. ”

Porzingis has four years and $ 129 million left on its biggest deal with 2023-2024 player selection, and Dallas will be welcome back on both sides of the ball.