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Mavs' Kristaps Porzingis says knee surgery for torn right meniscus ‘went well’; no estimate set for return

It’s the second knee surgery the 25-year-old center has underwent during his NBA career.

Kristaps Porzingis has undergone surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee, the Mavericks announced Friday.

The 25-year-old center suffered the injury during Game 1 of the Mavericks' first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers in mid-August and played on it for the following two games. Pain and limited mobility forced him to miss the last three contests of the series and his debut season with Dallas.

The start of the 2020-21 NBA season is unclear, as the league evaluates its salary cap and the viability of non-quarantined game sites and travel during the coronavirus pandemic. The Mavericks said Porzingis will “begin rehab immediately” with no timetable set for his return.

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In an Instagram Stories post Saturday, Porzingis said the operation “went well" and he looks “forward to bouncing back from this in no time.”

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The procedure marks the second knee surgery Porzingis has endured in his five seasons as an NBA player.

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He suffered a torn left ACL in February 2018 as a member of the New York Knicks and missed the entire 2018-19 season, during which he was traded to the Mavericks, while conducting a cautious and complete rehabilitation process.

Porzingis returned from ACL surgery at the beginning of this past season and showed little issue with his left knee, averaging 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and two blocks in 57 games.

He had an especially strong run just before the NBA suspended the season in mid-March, averaging 27.7 points, 11 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 13 games from Jan. 31 to March 6. During the Mavericks' play in the NBA’s Walt Disney World bubble this summer, Porzingis quickly regained his rhythm, tallying at least 30 points in five of his nine games.

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The Mavericks managed Porzingis' playing time at points in the season, often sitting him for one game in back to backs. He missed 10 games from late December to mid-January with right knee soreness.

That’s the same injury designation the Mavericks submitted on injury reports after Porzingis tore his meniscus Aug. 17. Coach Rick Carlisle said at the time that the injury was not connected to Porzingis' mid-season absence.

Porzingis said the meniscus tear occurred after Clippers center Marcus Morris Sr. accidentally fell into him as he attempted to grab an offensive rebound. That the injury happened in a contact situation shouldn’t prompt concerns about Porzingis' durability and injury history, a former Mavericks team doctor told The Dallas Morning News after the season.

Porzingis played through the injury for the remainder of the game — he was ejected in the second half — but his knee locked up the next morning and required round-the-clock treatment before he missed Games 4, 5 and 6. The Mavericks ruled Porzingis out following an MRI and platelet-rich plasma injections.

At the time, Porzingis hoped he could heal his knee through rehab and treatment without surgery. But almost eight weeks later, the Mavericks announced his second surgery in less than three years.

“I can’t really be too worried about that,” Porzingis said in late August. “Both of them were contact injuries. These things happen. What I can do is focus on the work that I can put into it to make sure that I decrease the possibility of that happening.

"That means strengthening every day and just trying to do all the preventative work I can. That’s in my hands. Again it’s a contact sport and these things can happen, so I can’t be too frustrated.”

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Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.