DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Mavericks were able to get back on track Thursday night with a 116-101 win over the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks after losing to the lowly Houston Rockets the night before.
In a surprising move, Kristaps Porzingis played on the second night of the back-to-back, something he had only done twice this season. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle attributed that to Porzingis getting some unexpected rest as a wrist ailment kept the big man out of the Mavs win over the Jazz on Monday.
Porzingis came through in a big way in the win over Milwaukee, scoring 26 points on 10-20 shooting and snagging 17 rebounds. His co-star, Luka Doncic, also had a spectacular night, putting up a stat line of 27 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.
It was a nice bounce-back win for Mavs fans to see, but it didn't stop them from continuing to speculate on social media about some potential friction between the two stars.
105.3 The Fan has also been keeping an eye on the players' interactions with each other during games and has been following Porzingis' postgame interviews very closely. Porzingis has, at times, been critical of the lack of ball movement or play calling, which could be interpreted as a slight to Doncic, who is the floor general of the team.
After the Mavericks loss to Houston, Porzingis was asked why he didn't take any shots in the seven fourth quarter minutes he played after being the team's best shooter on the night through three quarters (10-19).
"Good question. It's just the plays we were running. (It's) Happened before also," KP said, via Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle was asked about Porzingis' comments before the game vs Milwaukee and he said the two had visited about what happened.
“(I) Talked to him today about some things that we can do to keep him more involved that will combat some of the switching and keep him on the move somewhat," Carlisle said, while adding that Porzingis typically has one of the opposing team's best defenders on him and the team values the spacing he provides them by being able to play on the perimeter.
Thursday night was a much different story as Porzingis made an immediate impact when he checked back into the game with 8:01 left in the fourth quarter with his team down 93-89. On the Mavs next three offensive possessions, Porzingis knocked down two three-pointers off of passes from Doncic, and then he threw down a dunk to give the Mavs a four-point lead. Dallas never looked back from there as they went on to beat the Bucks by 15 points.
However, the win didn't stop fans from continuing to question the duo's relationship on and off the floor, which sparked Dallas Morning News reporter Brad Townsend to ask Porzingis about his connection with Doncic.
"We're trying to play together and help each other. We want to win. At the end, we all want to win here, and that's it. We have to keep playing and keep playing together and well and help each other."
The answer, which you can watch for yourself in the video below, didn't exactly portray a happy marriage.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon, who was one of those to react to Porzingis' response, had previously touched on the two stars' relationship on 105.3 The Fan.
"The chemistry with Luka, I wouldn't describe it as harmonious. Porzingis, every time he talks when he has a good game he likes to point out that it was one of the rare times the ball was actually moving. I feel like those lines are pretty wide to read between," MacMahon said on NBA Trade Deadline day on the GBag Nation (37:10 min mark).
Shan and RJ and the K&C Masterpiece also weighed in on Porzingis' latest comments during cross-talk Friday morning on 105.3 The Fan. You can watch their comments in the video above.
After last night's win, the Mavericks are just one game behind the Blazers and the all-important No. 6 seed in the western conference. Dallas should be doing anything and everything they can to not be one of the four teams that must fight their way into the playoffs via the play-in tournament (No. 7 seed - No. 10 seed).
A silver lining here is the fact that Porzingis has been making similar comments for quite some time, and yet, the Mavericks keep on rolling. Dallas has won 20 of their last 28 games, and more recently, have won six of their last seven games.
We might not get a indication of where things truly stand between the two stars until the offseason, but the fans can only hope that the wins keep on coming despite the appearance that there are some cracks in the marriage.