03-27-2024, 10:00 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-27-2024, 10:21 AM by SleepingHero.)
I just managed to watch the game after an overnight shift.
First off. Wow. What a game. What fight. Incredible victory especially the 2nd half. So many guys deserve a dirkie tonight. In a game that dictates so much for playoff seeding, having Luka sit the entire 4th quarter because the team absolutely destroyed the Kings brings a tear to my face.
Luka freaking Doncic. What a warrior man. So we've finally put a label to what has been hampering Luka the last week and a half. I gotta admit, going into the game knowing he had achilles soreness, every single time Luka touched it I winced. I was praying he was going to be okay. The fact he was grimacing and limping the entire first half didn't help my nerves. But does that matter for any normal person? No. He's Luka. He's a bonafide superstar made of vibranium. He started the game off a little slow in terms of picking his spots. He still put up 7/3/4 in 8 minutes to establish the Mavs. His 2nd quarter is where he really popped off. 6/10 and 19 points for the Don and Sacramento just couldn't do anything. AND THIS WAS ON A 2ND NIGHT OF A B2B AND THE DUDE WAS LIMPING! That was basically the night for Luka as in the 2nd half, everyone else stepped up and he didn't have to do a thing. No dirkie for him tonight, but he deserves all the praise for playing and carrying this team the way he has. Get some rest Luka!
Speaking of carrying this team, Dereck Lively had an incredible game. His defense in the 3rd quarter was the stuff of legends. He was licking some wounds in the 1st half where Sabonis got the better of him most of the time, but in the 3rd it was almost like Cyborg Lively downloaded the update and basically snuffed out every single attempt for the Kings. His statline of 4/7/1/1/2 is nothing spectacular but it doesn't speak to how impactful he was. He had a couple of fantastic highlight plays destroying a layup attempt by Duarte and managing to catch a transition pass for a dunk by Kyrie. Lively has a lot of growth in him, but even if he stays as he is, he is a fantastic center in the league.
Shoutout to PJ Washington. He was due for a game where his shot was falling. He opened the 1st with 2 threes and was basically everywhere on the court. He could've easily had 20 points tonight if the balls bounced a little differently. Moreover he was a menace on the boards. 13 of them to be exact. Against a team like the Kings who are so physical on the glass, having PJ down there boxing out and giving his all made a difference tonight. More of this from him!
Another dude who deserves a shoutout for breaking out of his offensive slump is THJ. This is the first game in almost 6 weeks where Timmy looked himself offensively. He took some crazy shots, but he also hit some crazy shots. Such is the way of THJ. But no matter. He was on one tonight and the team needed every one of his 22 points off the bench. SAC as a team had 24 bench points from their regular guys before garbage time. Timmy almost outscored them by himself. What a game from Hardaway. Hopefully he keeps this momentum for Friday.
Finally, the batman to Luka's batman. Kyrie Irving. On a 2nd night of a back to back, Kyrie showed why there aren't many guards ahead of him in the league. His ability to pour on the points reminds me of very few scorers I've ever seen. Kobe. Allen Iverson. Steph. Kyrie is cut from that same cloth. After a quiet first half where he went 3/7 and scored 6 points, he absolutely exploded in the 2nd half. The Kings were at a loss of what to do. They tried doubling Kyrie. They tried sinking the floor. They tried hedging, playing high, playing drop. Didn't matter. Kyrie torched them en route to an 18 point half where he shot 7/12 including 4/7 from 3. That was basically the game. The Kings couldn't keep up with Kyrie shooting in the 3rd where he was almost perfect 5/6. Couple that with Timmy who also was hot and that meant Luka could get some rest. GG Kyrie. Dirkie for you.
Incredible game from the Mavs offensively and defensively. Lets hope they regroup, rest up, and lock in for Friday to really cement their lead over the Kings.
First off. Wow. What a game. What fight. Incredible victory especially the 2nd half. So many guys deserve a dirkie tonight. In a game that dictates so much for playoff seeding, having Luka sit the entire 4th quarter because the team absolutely destroyed the Kings brings a tear to my face.
Luka freaking Doncic. What a warrior man. So we've finally put a label to what has been hampering Luka the last week and a half. I gotta admit, going into the game knowing he had achilles soreness, every single time Luka touched it I winced. I was praying he was going to be okay. The fact he was grimacing and limping the entire first half didn't help my nerves. But does that matter for any normal person? No. He's Luka. He's a bonafide superstar made of vibranium. He started the game off a little slow in terms of picking his spots. He still put up 7/3/4 in 8 minutes to establish the Mavs. His 2nd quarter is where he really popped off. 6/10 and 19 points for the Don and Sacramento just couldn't do anything. AND THIS WAS ON A 2ND NIGHT OF A B2B AND THE DUDE WAS LIMPING! That was basically the night for Luka as in the 2nd half, everyone else stepped up and he didn't have to do a thing. No dirkie for him tonight, but he deserves all the praise for playing and carrying this team the way he has. Get some rest Luka!
Speaking of carrying this team, Dereck Lively had an incredible game. His defense in the 3rd quarter was the stuff of legends. He was licking some wounds in the 1st half where Sabonis got the better of him most of the time, but in the 3rd it was almost like Cyborg Lively downloaded the update and basically snuffed out every single attempt for the Kings. His statline of 4/7/1/1/2 is nothing spectacular but it doesn't speak to how impactful he was. He had a couple of fantastic highlight plays destroying a layup attempt by Duarte and managing to catch a transition pass for a dunk by Kyrie. Lively has a lot of growth in him, but even if he stays as he is, he is a fantastic center in the league.
Shoutout to PJ Washington. He was due for a game where his shot was falling. He opened the 1st with 2 threes and was basically everywhere on the court. He could've easily had 20 points tonight if the balls bounced a little differently. Moreover he was a menace on the boards. 13 of them to be exact. Against a team like the Kings who are so physical on the glass, having PJ down there boxing out and giving his all made a difference tonight. More of this from him!
Another dude who deserves a shoutout for breaking out of his offensive slump is THJ. This is the first game in almost 6 weeks where Timmy looked himself offensively. He took some crazy shots, but he also hit some crazy shots. Such is the way of THJ. But no matter. He was on one tonight and the team needed every one of his 22 points off the bench. SAC as a team had 24 bench points from their regular guys before garbage time. Timmy almost outscored them by himself. What a game from Hardaway. Hopefully he keeps this momentum for Friday.
Finally, the batman to Luka's batman. Kyrie Irving. On a 2nd night of a back to back, Kyrie showed why there aren't many guards ahead of him in the league. His ability to pour on the points reminds me of very few scorers I've ever seen. Kobe. Allen Iverson. Steph. Kyrie is cut from that same cloth. After a quiet first half where he went 3/7 and scored 6 points, he absolutely exploded in the 2nd half. The Kings were at a loss of what to do. They tried doubling Kyrie. They tried sinking the floor. They tried hedging, playing high, playing drop. Didn't matter. Kyrie torched them en route to an 18 point half where he shot 7/12 including 4/7 from 3. That was basically the game. The Kings couldn't keep up with Kyrie shooting in the 3rd where he was almost perfect 5/6. Couple that with Timmy who also was hot and that meant Luka could get some rest. GG Kyrie. Dirkie for you.
Incredible game from the Mavs offensively and defensively. Lets hope they regroup, rest up, and lock in for Friday to really cement their lead over the Kings.
14x All-Star, 12x all-NBA, 1x MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 1 NBA Championship: Dirk Nowitzki, the man, the myth, the legend.
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