Shortly after the Dallas Mavericks lost rookie starting center Dereck Lively II to an ankle sprain in the third quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers, they also lost Grant Williams to an ankle sprain as well.
Both players didn’t return to the game. Although the Mavs have a lot to be happy about with a blowout win over the Blazers and their star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combining to score 70 points, their injury woes continue after it was starting to look like the roster was finally getting healthy.
Williams’ absence won’t hurt the Mavs as badly as Lively’s will, given that the team is just 1-5 when Lively doesn’t play, but they’d still be losing a big forward who averages 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and shoots 38.1 percent from deep.
During early December, Williams missed three games due to having a bone bruise on his knee. Since returning from that injury, the fifth-year forward has only shot 40.7 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from deep in his last 12 games. If Williams has to miss extended time, perhaps it will also serve as the reset needed to get his shooting back on track.
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