Mavericks: The importance of Dwight Powell in the playoffs becomes clear

The Dallas Mavericks defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-93 on April 24. It was an important win. The Mavericks were without Kristaps Porzingis and Josh Richardson, and the Lakers came out hell-bent on stopping Luka Doncic. Nothing came easy. It took a total team effort for the Mavs to pick up the key victory.

Dwight Powell stole the show on Saturday night. He finished with 25 points and nine rebounds on 11 of 12 shooting from the field. The Mavericks outscored the Lakers by 20 points during his 28 minutes on the floor. It was an incredible performance.

Dallas did plenty of celebrating for Powell. The 29-year-old missed the bubble playoffs recovering from a torn Achilles. He is the hardest worker on the team and continues to impress in his comeback. Here is more on his injury and what the 6’10 big man’s show-stealing performance against the Lakers means going forward.

Mavericks big man Dwight Powell steals the show 15 months after devastating injury

When Powell went down on Jan. 21, 2020, it was quickly confirmed to be a torn Achilles, one of the toughest injuries to come back from for NBA players. There were questions on if Powell would ever be a consistent rotation player again. It is safe to say he answered them on Saturday night. Here is a telling quote from coach Rick Carlisle.

"“This is a strong testament to the amount of work he put in over the last year and a half to recover from an injury that is extremely difficult for high-level athletes. I look out there now, and I don’t see any difference now from the Dwight Powell before the injury. That just speaks to an amazing amount of work he put in.”"

Powell showed why he is going to important for the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs on April 24. Let us take a closer look.

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