Playoff experience for an NBA player is like barbecuing for a pitmaster.
You don’t prove your chops until you ruin a few briskets.
In other words, there’s no substitute for being there. And there’s no getting around the fact that the head chefs for the Mavericks – Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis – have never cooked in an NBA playoff game.
Yes, it’s true that there will be eight games to finish a disjointed regular season as the Mavericks and the other 21 NBA teams begin practices in the Orlando bubble. The Mavericks’ first one is set for Friday.