Dallas Mavericks: 3 critical goals for their NBA playoff run

Dallas Mavericks playoff goals No. 2: Utilize Kristaps Porzingis effectively

The Mavericks have become a very Doncic-centered team. This is fair enough because he is going to be a Hall of Fame player if he continues to produce the way that he is. One thing he needs to do, however, is to trust his teammates more. Without this, he is never going to win a championship.

A prime example of this is Kristaps Porzingis. Clearly, Porzingis is the second-best player on the Mavericks roster but the problem is that Porzingis is not being used effectively. He is, in fact, being used less than he was in the previous playoff series.

Last year, in the bubble, Porzingis averaged 23.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 31.3 minutes per game. He was on fire for the three games that he played, shooting the ball at 52.5 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent from deep.

In the regular-season games that Porzingis played this season, he averaged 20.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 30.9 minutes per game. He took 15.9 field goal attempts and 6.0 attempts from deep. So why then has Porzingis only taken 11.7 shots from the floor, and 4.3 attempts from deep.

Doncic has shown that he can win a game or two off his own hand. However, playoff basketball requires a team effort to win a series.