Dallas Mavericks need more from Kristaps Porzingis

Dallas Mavericks need Kristaps Porzingis to take advantage of mismatches

The Clippers went small for the majority of the game. They started Ivica Zubac, but Luka Doncic immediately attacked that matchup. The 22-year-old superstar scored the first eight points of the game, and LA coach Tyronn Lue was forced to pull Zubac with 9:47 left in the first quarter.

Zu finished with 11 total minutes in the game. The rest of the night, the Clippers went small with either Marcus Morris Sr. or Nicolas Batum at center. That means Kristaps Porzingis is the tallest player on the floor by seven inches. LA has used Kawhi Leonard to guard KP. The Mavericks are happy to ride out those minutes without the Unicorn being the focal point.

It is when Porzingis gets matched on a guard that he must take advantage. He only took ten field goal attempts in Game 3. Here Reggie Jackson is on KP with Luka taking a rest, but the Unicorn settles for a long contested two.

Porzingis had three similar possessions with Terrance Mann guarding him and one against Paul George. The result has KP going zero of four from the field and producing this turnover.

The Dallas Mavericks need Kristaps Porzingis to feast on mismatches. He must be more aggressive getting to the basket and not settle for long twos if the Dallas Mavericks are going to win this series.

Next: Open looks