Kristaps Porzingis Exits Mavericks vs. Lakers with Ankle Injury

Blake SchusterSenior Analyst IIIApril 23, 2021

Dallas Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis (6) gets past Los Angeles Lakers' Dennis Schroeder (17) and Anthony Davis (3) for a dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Thursday, April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

The Dallas Mavericks announced that forward Kristaps Porzingis would miss the remainder of his team's game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday after suffering a left ankle sprain in the third quarter.

Porzingis rolled his ankle while going up for an offensive rebound.

Tim MacMahon @espn_macmahon
Kristaps Porzingis limped to the bench during the timeout and appears to be in significant pain. Now he's headed to the locker room.

NBA on ESPN @ESPNNBA
Kristaps Porzingis walked to the locker room after suffering an apparent ankle injury. https://t.co/krmSfpP5yv

Porzingis had 19 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes before departing.

The 25-year-old has been in and out of the lineup all year with various injuries, but he still averaged 20.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 38 games entering Thursday. He suffered a wrist injury in early April, but that cost him just two games.

Porzingis is now headed to the sidelines again, though it's unclear for how long.

Dallas is in a battle for a top-six Western Conference playoff spot to avoid the play-in tournament and will have to continue that journey without one of its top players for the time being.

Look for head coach Rick Carlisle to rely more on Nicolo Melli, Maxi Kleber, Willie Cauley-Stein and Boban Marjanovic in the absence of the Latvian.

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