Dallas Mavericks duo Luka Doncic and Rick Carlisle were delighted to see Kristaps Porzingis back in action after the Latvian made his first appearance of the NBA season on Wednesday. 

Having undergone knee surgery in October, Porzingis had missed Dallas' first nine games as he continued his recovery.

A potential return on Monday was then scuppered when the clash with the New Orleans Pelicans was postponed in accordance with the league's health and safety protocols amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

However, the former first-round pick by the New York Knicks was finally able to take the court again against the Charlotte Hornets, contributing 16 points during his 21 minutes in a 104-93 triumph. 

"He' an amazing player," Doncic - who led the way with 34 points - said, according to Dallas' official website. 

"He's got to get back into rhythm, and I think for the first game he played amazing. He's going to keep improving and we're going to need him a lot."

Mavs coach Carlisle admitted Porzingis' return – admittedly on a restriction in terms of minutes – makes a huge difference to the team, including helping to alleviate some of the pressure on the shoulders of Doncic. 

"When both of those guys are out there, it's a game-changer for us because you've got two guys that can both play on the inside and really space the floor on the outside," Carlisle said.  

"They can both put the ball on the floor and make plays. 

"You get two franchise players, it's important to have them on the floor together and available to play. You look at every team in this league, if they're without one of their cornerstone guys it's going to be a lot tougher job. 

"I think everybody feels a lot better now that KP is back in the mix."

The game was also notable for Carlisle in terms of a personal milestone, as he reached 800 victories in his coaching career.

Porzingis himself accepted he had been a little too eager to make an impact during his comeback, knowing his involvement in the game was always going to be limited. 

"What I think didn’t help me was knowing that I had the minutes restrictions," Porzingis said. "I was trying to do as much as I could in those minutes that I had. 

"Sometimes you don't make the best decisions when you really want to be aggressive, but it's okay. I wanted to be aggressive for the time I was going to be out there, and most importantly [it was the] first game and first win for me."