LUKAAAAA MAGIC!!!
After watching his team squander an 11-point lead over the course of three minutes, Luka hit two audacious contested step-back threes from Mexico to steal a win for the Mavs! OMG! What a thrill!
GAME STORY
Porzingis (lower back tightness) and Maxi (sprained ankle) were both out for the Mavs. Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford were on the Injured list for Boston.
Rick brought out a new starting lineup of Luka, Josh, DFS, Johnson, and Powell. The game was played very close throughout the first three quarters, and the Mavs entered the fourth with an 80-76 lead.
After Boston tied the game at 7:24, the Mavs went on a run, and were up 11 at 3:12.
Then--
Kemba hits a three. Brunson fouls him on the shot. Kemba completes the four-point play. Mavs +7.
DFS misses open three.
Jason Tatum three. Mavs +4.
Luka misses jump shot.
Kemba Walker three. Mavs +1.
Brunson offensive foul turnover.
Walker missed three.
Brunson bad pass turnover. Luka steals the ball back. Brunson badly missed three.
Jalen Brown pull-up. Mavs -1. 38 seconds.
Luka step-back three! Mavs +2. 16 seconds.
Brown layup. Tie game. 9 seconds.
Luka step-back three! Mavs +3. .1 seconds. Game over!
It wasn’t pretty. But this is what generational talents do!
STATS
The Mavs shot 39% from three, with Luka and Brunson combining to go 11-15 between them. The team had only 15 free-throw attempts, but hit 13 of them. Dallas was out-rebounded 38-46 and gave up 14 fast-break points, but they capitalized on 13 Boston turnovers to the tune of 18 points. They had a scoring drought of over five minutes in the third quarter, but the Celtics were unable to take advantage. Rick went with a closing unit of Luka, Brunson, Hardaway, DFS, and WCS. The meltdown in the last few minutes was salvaged by Luka’s heroics.
PLAYERS
DONCIC. There shouldn’t be any question about who gets the Dirkie for this one. Luka had a 31/10/8 line and was a scintillating 6 of 8 from deep. During the second half, the Celtics intensified their efforts to keep the ball out of his hands, and had some success with that approach. Luka was making the right passes, but when that measure was not proving fruitful at the end, the young star took it upon himself to save the win with two unlikely game-winning shots! Luka! We are not worthy!
BRUNSON. Jalen had 22 points off the bench in a sixth-man role. He was 5-7 from long range, and 5-5 at the line. He was habanero hot in the fourth quarter, with 16 timely points. He had the TNT game callers raving until late in the fourth. He was an intelligent game manager and shot very well. However, having said all that, his performance in the finishing lineup was decidedly mixed. After scoring 10 straight points to take the team to 3:12, he then fouled a three-point shooter, committed two turnovers, and missed a three.
GUARDS. Hardaway scored in a variety of ways, and was on the highlight reel with a double-clutch two-handed slam in the second quarter. Josh and Timmy combined for 30, and all four guards amassed 83 of the Mavs’ 110 points. The Mavericks smalls are really getting it together offensively!
BIGS. Although Powell started the game, he played only 11 minutes, and was not on the floor at the end. Johnson also started, played 28 minutes, had 8 points, and held his own on the court. WCS had 24 minutes and did a few good things. The shortage of big men brought on a couple of Bobi sightings, and he made an impact with 10 points and 8 rebounds in 13 minutes, as well as boasting a game-high +13. After the first quarter, Coach Stevens allowed that his team had been attacking Marjanovic a little too much, and it might be time to try something different, lol. The TNT announcers declared that they could think of no more beloved player than Boban in the league, and I wouldn’t argue the point. The squad's four largest players combined for 27 points and 17 boards.
BOSTON. Although I was of course glad for the win, I was a little disappointed in the quality of the Celtics’ performance. While the Mavs deserve some credit for their limited display, some of their failure to thrive seemed attributable to a lack of quality. Their three stars — Tatum, Brown, and Walker — combined for 78 of their 107 total. Not an impressive effort, and this win put them below .500.
OBSERVATIONS
This contest was a bit of a slog for the first three quarters, and it seemed like neither team was going to be able to make any kind of decisive charge. The Mavs managed to get over that hump in the fourth quarter, only for their habitual late-game collapse to rear its ugly head. I think TNT was probably glad to have shown this match, as it was very close, and the outcome was in question down to the last few seconds. Considering that it was the second night of a B2B, with KP and Maxi out, maybe this was a pretty decent performance, and it was super exciting to get to watch Luka at his other-worldly best at the end. We’ll take it!
This victory brings the Mavs back to .500 at 15-15. They stand at ninth place in the West, 1/2 a game ahead of Memphis and 1 game back of Golden State. They have a tough one coming up at Philadelphia on Thursday. Let’s savor this win!
Onward and upward, MFFLs!
After watching his team squander an 11-point lead over the course of three minutes, Luka hit two audacious contested step-back threes from Mexico to steal a win for the Mavs! OMG! What a thrill!
GAME STORY
Porzingis (lower back tightness) and Maxi (sprained ankle) were both out for the Mavs. Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford were on the Injured list for Boston.
Rick brought out a new starting lineup of Luka, Josh, DFS, Johnson, and Powell. The game was played very close throughout the first three quarters, and the Mavs entered the fourth with an 80-76 lead.
After Boston tied the game at 7:24, the Mavs went on a run, and were up 11 at 3:12.
Then--
Kemba hits a three. Brunson fouls him on the shot. Kemba completes the four-point play. Mavs +7.
DFS misses open three.
Jason Tatum three. Mavs +4.
Luka misses jump shot.
Kemba Walker three. Mavs +1.
Brunson offensive foul turnover.
Walker missed three.
Brunson bad pass turnover. Luka steals the ball back. Brunson badly missed three.
Jalen Brown pull-up. Mavs -1. 38 seconds.
Luka step-back three! Mavs +2. 16 seconds.
Brown layup. Tie game. 9 seconds.
Luka step-back three! Mavs +3. .1 seconds. Game over!
It wasn’t pretty. But this is what generational talents do!
STATS
The Mavs shot 39% from three, with Luka and Brunson combining to go 11-15 between them. The team had only 15 free-throw attempts, but hit 13 of them. Dallas was out-rebounded 38-46 and gave up 14 fast-break points, but they capitalized on 13 Boston turnovers to the tune of 18 points. They had a scoring drought of over five minutes in the third quarter, but the Celtics were unable to take advantage. Rick went with a closing unit of Luka, Brunson, Hardaway, DFS, and WCS. The meltdown in the last few minutes was salvaged by Luka’s heroics.
PLAYERS
DONCIC. There shouldn’t be any question about who gets the Dirkie for this one. Luka had a 31/10/8 line and was a scintillating 6 of 8 from deep. During the second half, the Celtics intensified their efforts to keep the ball out of his hands, and had some success with that approach. Luka was making the right passes, but when that measure was not proving fruitful at the end, the young star took it upon himself to save the win with two unlikely game-winning shots! Luka! We are not worthy!
BRUNSON. Jalen had 22 points off the bench in a sixth-man role. He was 5-7 from long range, and 5-5 at the line. He was habanero hot in the fourth quarter, with 16 timely points. He had the TNT game callers raving until late in the fourth. He was an intelligent game manager and shot very well. However, having said all that, his performance in the finishing lineup was decidedly mixed. After scoring 10 straight points to take the team to 3:12, he then fouled a three-point shooter, committed two turnovers, and missed a three.
GUARDS. Hardaway scored in a variety of ways, and was on the highlight reel with a double-clutch two-handed slam in the second quarter. Josh and Timmy combined for 30, and all four guards amassed 83 of the Mavs’ 110 points. The Mavericks smalls are really getting it together offensively!
BIGS. Although Powell started the game, he played only 11 minutes, and was not on the floor at the end. Johnson also started, played 28 minutes, had 8 points, and held his own on the court. WCS had 24 minutes and did a few good things. The shortage of big men brought on a couple of Bobi sightings, and he made an impact with 10 points and 8 rebounds in 13 minutes, as well as boasting a game-high +13. After the first quarter, Coach Stevens allowed that his team had been attacking Marjanovic a little too much, and it might be time to try something different, lol. The TNT announcers declared that they could think of no more beloved player than Boban in the league, and I wouldn’t argue the point. The squad's four largest players combined for 27 points and 17 boards.
BOSTON. Although I was of course glad for the win, I was a little disappointed in the quality of the Celtics’ performance. While the Mavs deserve some credit for their limited display, some of their failure to thrive seemed attributable to a lack of quality. Their three stars — Tatum, Brown, and Walker — combined for 78 of their 107 total. Not an impressive effort, and this win put them below .500.
OBSERVATIONS
This contest was a bit of a slog for the first three quarters, and it seemed like neither team was going to be able to make any kind of decisive charge. The Mavs managed to get over that hump in the fourth quarter, only for their habitual late-game collapse to rear its ugly head. I think TNT was probably glad to have shown this match, as it was very close, and the outcome was in question down to the last few seconds. Considering that it was the second night of a B2B, with KP and Maxi out, maybe this was a pretty decent performance, and it was super exciting to get to watch Luka at his other-worldly best at the end. We’ll take it!
This victory brings the Mavs back to .500 at 15-15. They stand at ninth place in the West, 1/2 a game ahead of Memphis and 1 game back of Golden State. They have a tough one coming up at Philadelphia on Thursday. Let’s savor this win!
Onward and upward, MFFLs!