104-99！ The Lone Ranger fought hard at home for 4 quarters, and finally won a 104-99 comeback to defeat the Spurs, ushering in a 3-game winning streak, in this game, the Lone Ranger was once 20 points behind the Spurs in the first quarter, but the young Brunson scored 11 points in the second quarter to help the team gradually narrow the point gap, and in the second half, Doncic ushered in an outbreak, getting rid of the slump in the first half and leading the team to achieve a reversal, winning this difficult victory.
Doncic played 34 minutes, shooting 11-of-19, 3-of-8 from three-point range and 0-of-3 from the free throw line, finishing with 25 points, three rebounds and five assists, while he scored just seven points in the entire first half, with 18 points in the bottom half. Brunson contributed 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists to provide Doncic with tremendous support. After winning this game, the Lone Ranger has won a wave of 3 consecutive wins, and after losing to the Hawks in the opener, the team still achieved good results in stumbling, and this is still in the case of Doncic's poor form so far in the season.
It is worth mentioning that Porzingis did not appear in this game, without The "giant" of Bozin, the Lone Ranger's inner attack and defense have been greatly affected, so it is more valuable to be able to win the game. However, it is interesting that according to US media statistics, Porzingis's contribution to the Lone Ranger so far this season does not seem to be much better than last season. So far, when Porzingis is on the floor, the Lone Ranger has a plus-minus of -30 and a net loss of 30 points, while when Porzingis is not on the floor, the Lone Ranger has a plus-minus of +27 points, a net win over the opponent by 27 points. This statistic also reflects to some extent the role of a player for the team, and Porzingis seems to have become a burden for the Lone Ranger, and even a bit of a drag.
So far this season, Porzingis has played 3 games, averaging 26 minutes per game, only 12.7 points, 6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 2 blocks, shooting only 30.2% from the field, and shooting as low as 23.5% of the 3-point shooting rate. The lone ranger, which was originally a double giant lineup, also meant that Porzingis's sluggish performance became Doncic's single-core team. Last season, despite his unsatisfactory performance and criticism, he still averaged 20.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and his three-point shooting rate reached 38%. At the end of the season, Porzingis had publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with his tactical position in the team, but with carlisle leaving the team and Kidd taking office, Bozin seemed to see hope in the future of the team, and Kidd also tried his best to improve Bozin's role, but unfortunately so far, Bozin's performance was not only not improved, but worse than last season.
Obviously, if Porzingis continues this performance, it will be a disaster for the Lone Ranger, after all, the team has been out of the first round for the past 2 seasons, and although Doncic has performed heroically, it is still difficult to beat four hands with two fists. The Lone Ranger had a great desire to send Porzingis away through a trade in the offseason, but considering his injury hazards, state and the five-year 158 million maximum salary contract, almost no team was willing to accept this big burden, and finally the Lone Ranger could only helplessly leave him and continue to let him partner Doncic. But obviously, if Porzingis can't get back to form as soon as possible, he will be a burden on the team and will waste Doncic's youth because of this big contract.