Kristaps Porzingis will miss the remainder of the Mavericks' first-round playoff series against the Clippers with a lateral meniscus tear of his right knee, the team announced Friday afternoon.
The 7-3 center, who has dealt with past injury issues in both knees, had missed the last two games.
After suffering the injury in Game 1 _ before he was ejected in the third quarter for receiving two technical fouls _ Porzingis played the next two games with the injury.
In his NBA playoff series debut, 25-year-old Porzingis averaged 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in 31.3 minutes a game while shooting 52.5% from the field and 52.9% from 3.
Porzingis has taken a meticulous approach to injury recovery before. After tearing the ACL in his left knee in February 2018 while with the Knicks, Porzingis rehabbed for 20 months before returning to play, missing the full 2019 season, during which New York traded him to Dallas.
He also missed 10 consecutive games from Dec. 31 to Jan. 17 with right knee soreness, the same injury designation the Mavericks had used on most daily reports before announcing his diagnosis Friday.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after Porzingis underwent an MRI last Sunday that his injury was different from the one he endured during the regular season.
While some wondered whether the Mavericks and Porzingis were being cautious in decisions about his availability, Carlisle said before Game 5 that Porzingis pleaded with trainers to not rule him out too quickly because he "desperately wants to play. If (he can't play), it's going to be because he's unable to, not just simply because it's sore," Carlisle said then. "He's played with things that are sore all year, and he's a tough guy."
