11-26-2024, 12:07 PM
This was one of the guttiest wins of the year. 2nd night of a back to back. Down basically everyone to sickness and injury, yet the Mavs found a way to win. Plus, if this game is any more confirmation of Kidd just not giving a shit in the regular season, he was still finding ways to experiment this game with Kyrie/Hardy/Dinwiddie lineups in the 4th quarter….
Hardy had a not so stellar start to the game but found a way to score and carry the team through the 1st half. He really is a fantastic scorer. He has evolved into a pretty fantastic 3 level scorer. Yet I’m not so convinced he can work in a system where he has to pass the ball to anyone else. Some games he looks like the 2nd coming of Steve Nash, then this game where he had 3 first quarter turnovers and 6 total overall… yeeesh. That alone disqualifies him for the dirkie. Solid performance but nothing spectacular
Dinwiddie with the bounce backs of all bounce backs. 22pts on 6-11 shooting after shooting that putrid line in Miami the previous night. The Mavs looked DOA as every time they made a mini run the, the Hawks kept stacking a lead. That is, until Dinwiddie caught fire and had a scorching hot run of 3 straight 3s in the middle of the 3rd to put the Mavs within 1. That was all the Mavs needed to stick with the Hawks and put them in position to win. Kidd really had no choice but to run with Dinwiddie this game, unlike in Miami. Also unlike in Miami, Dinwiddie delivered big tonight. I actually disliked how much Dinwiddie was in the game, especially in the 4th where I thought Naji should’ve been in. But Dinwiddie had a solid game overall. I comment his ability to bounce back and I still maintain it’s a luxury to have him as our “break in case of emergency” guard. Still, Kidd is going to Kidd and overuse him.
Naji Marshall has blown my mind. That is all. I never thought he could be this good and versatile of a scorer. He only had 4 games of 20+pt games in his entire 4 years in New Orleans and he’s already matched that this year so far with Dallas. Now do I think he’s going to continue scoring like this? No. But he has shown he has the ability to score like this which is something we’ve desperately craved at that position for the last 20 years.
But in the end, my Dirkie has to go to none other than Kyrie. I mean my goodness. He continues to make me speechless. It’s obvious how great of a player he is. I mean heck, we’ve come to expect his inevitable 4th quarter heroics. 4 straight 3s to put the game away, incredibly, is something we’re supposed to be used to when it comes to Kyrie. So that isn’t the main reason why I am giving him the dirkie (although it is a part of it!). No, the reason why I am giving him the dirkie is that there was a moment in the 3rd quarter where PJ and Naji failed a switch. It led to a wide open 3 for Atlanta. At that moment you could hear Kyrie on the rim mics screaming, “WE GOT TO TALK” , over and over. After that moment, the Mavs never looked back. That is what leaders do. Kyrie freaking Irving what a deserved dirkie.
Hardy had a not so stellar start to the game but found a way to score and carry the team through the 1st half. He really is a fantastic scorer. He has evolved into a pretty fantastic 3 level scorer. Yet I’m not so convinced he can work in a system where he has to pass the ball to anyone else. Some games he looks like the 2nd coming of Steve Nash, then this game where he had 3 first quarter turnovers and 6 total overall… yeeesh. That alone disqualifies him for the dirkie. Solid performance but nothing spectacular
Dinwiddie with the bounce backs of all bounce backs. 22pts on 6-11 shooting after shooting that putrid line in Miami the previous night. The Mavs looked DOA as every time they made a mini run the, the Hawks kept stacking a lead. That is, until Dinwiddie caught fire and had a scorching hot run of 3 straight 3s in the middle of the 3rd to put the Mavs within 1. That was all the Mavs needed to stick with the Hawks and put them in position to win. Kidd really had no choice but to run with Dinwiddie this game, unlike in Miami. Also unlike in Miami, Dinwiddie delivered big tonight. I actually disliked how much Dinwiddie was in the game, especially in the 4th where I thought Naji should’ve been in. But Dinwiddie had a solid game overall. I comment his ability to bounce back and I still maintain it’s a luxury to have him as our “break in case of emergency” guard. Still, Kidd is going to Kidd and overuse him.
Naji Marshall has blown my mind. That is all. I never thought he could be this good and versatile of a scorer. He only had 4 games of 20+pt games in his entire 4 years in New Orleans and he’s already matched that this year so far with Dallas. Now do I think he’s going to continue scoring like this? No. But he has shown he has the ability to score like this which is something we’ve desperately craved at that position for the last 20 years.
But in the end, my Dirkie has to go to none other than Kyrie. I mean my goodness. He continues to make me speechless. It’s obvious how great of a player he is. I mean heck, we’ve come to expect his inevitable 4th quarter heroics. 4 straight 3s to put the game away, incredibly, is something we’re supposed to be used to when it comes to Kyrie. So that isn’t the main reason why I am giving him the dirkie (although it is a part of it!). No, the reason why I am giving him the dirkie is that there was a moment in the 3rd quarter where PJ and Naji failed a switch. It led to a wide open 3 for Atlanta. At that moment you could hear Kyrie on the rim mics screaming, “WE GOT TO TALK” , over and over. After that moment, the Mavs never looked back. That is what leaders do. Kyrie freaking Irving what a deserved dirkie.
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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