The 36-year-old Barea is currently the senior player on the Mavericks team. The Puerto Rican basketball player helped the Dallas team win the 2011 NBA Championship.
Barea has 49 matches in the NBA Playoffs. This is the biggest experience among the Mavericks players who will go on the pitch this season. Courtney Lee has played in 50 play-offs, but he will not play this season due to injury.
The Mavericks have not qualified for play-offs in the last three years, but this season the team will succeed. 21-year-old Dončičs and 24-year-old Porziņģis have not previously participated in the NBA playoffs.
“I will tell them that this will be real. When we start playing in ‘play-off’ matches, the teams will raise their level, the physical game will increase,” an experienced Mavericks player quoted on the club’s website.
“There will be a lot more attention, especially for both of them, from everywhere – from television, from the opposing team, from all the players. I will just try to prepare them psychologically for another level of basketball. Better and more difficult level.”
Barea has played in 26 games this season, averaging 15.0 minutes on the field, scoring 7.5 points and making 3.8 assists.
Dončičs has averaged 28.7 points in 54 matches this season, won 9.3 rebounds and made 8.7 assists.
Porziņģis has averaged 19.2 points in 51 games this season, won 9.5 rebounds and blocked 2.1 throws.
Before the season ended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mavericks ranked seventh in the Western Conference tournament table with 40 wins and 27 losses.
Before the season continues, the Mavericks will play three test matches – on July 23 with the Los Angeles Lakers, three days later a duel with the Indian “Pacers” is expected, but the final test game is scheduled for July 28 against the Philadelphia “76ers”.
The NBA season will resume on July 31 in Orlando with 22 teams participating.
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