Mavs' Kristaps Porzingis Out Next 2 Games After PRP Injection for Knee Injury

Dallas Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis will miss at least two more games due to a knee injury that has kept him out of action since Jan. 1.

Per ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Porzingis had a PRP injection in his sore right knee. Tim Cato of The Athletic reported Porzingis will not play in either game this weekend.

MacMahon noted Porzingis has also been dealing with an illness that has slowed down his recovery. 

The Mavs acquired Porzingis in a trade with the New York Knicks last season, but since he was recovering from a torn ACL, he did not make his Mavericks debut until this season. Early returns have been mostly positive, as the Latvian star is averaging 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. 

While Luka Doncic rightly gets a great deal of attention and credit for the Mavs' success this season, Porzingis has been a quality running mate and a big part of the turnaround in Dallas as well.

Although Porzingis has struggled with his shooting at times this season, he is still scoring at a good rate, improving significantly as a rebounder and patrolling the paint as one of the NBA's most feared shot-blockers. The 7'3" forward is one of the most skilled big men the NBA has to offer, which is why the Mavericks can ill afford to be without him for an extended period of time.

Even so, the Mavs are likely to take a cautious approach with Porzingis since he missed all of last season and has had durability concerns throughout his career.

For as long as Porzingis is on the shelf, it will likely take a group effort to replace what he brings to the table since there isn't any one player on the roster with his skill set.

Defensively, the combination of Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell will primarily be tasked with crashing the boards and blocking shots, which are two areas in which both players typically excel.

Porzingis' absence will also likely open up more playing time for Boban Marjanovic, who is averaging 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 9.4 minutes per game this season.

Going without a player of Porzingis' caliber won't be easy, but head coach Rick Carlisle has a great deal of depth at his disposal, so the Mavericks should continue to be a highly competitive and successful team in the meantime.