HALLELUKA: Luka Clinches All-NBA 1st team. 4th in 5 years

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...0680006670

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...8720542725

[Hogmelon]

Vegas lines are moving in Utah’s direction, and those folks don’t miss much.

Betting line, Mavs vs. Jazz, Game 1, Saturday, April 16:

Bet $100 on the Mavs to win $155.

EASY MONEY!!!  WOOHOO!!!!!





https://giphy.com/gifs/AdVentureCapitali...fullscreen

[burekemde]

It does make some difficulty for Utah, in order to prepare the gameplan, not to know what will happen. Three options: i) Top Luka offense; ii) Limping/injured Luka offense; iii) SD and Brunson offense. The three options have 3 different game plans.  It might be that Luka is fully fine for game one, but they don't want to announce it. It does bring some small, albeit maybe not huge, advantage to game one, and that the boot is also just precaution to be on the safe side. At least, that's my wishful thinking. Luka if anyone, has shown to play through injuries as good as anyone previously. He is tough.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status...8984046603

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...7467421698

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status...4674741250

[KillerLeft]

If the Mavs let this kid tear his Achilles, I will never follow the team again.

[cow]

If the Mavs let this kid tear his Achilles, I will never follow the team again.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...4683404292

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...1019804681

[Hogmelon]

Move along (nothing to see here) ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY41nD5zULM  


https://giphy.com/gifs/season-3-the-simp...fullscreen

[Hogmelon]

Move along (nothing to see here) ...

Luka sustained a calf injury late in the evening [around 10:00 PM CDT?????] on Sunday, April 10.

When will he be able to return to action for the Mavs?

Here is the schedule for the Mavs' first-round series against the Utah Jazz:

Game 1, Saturday, April 16, at NOON CDT, in Dallas

Game 2, Monday, April 18, at 7:30 PM CDT, in Dallas

Game 3, Thursday, April 21, at 8:00 PM CDT, in Salt Lake City

Game 4, Saturday, April 23, at 3:30 PM CDT, in Salt Lake City

Game 5, Monday, April 25, time TBD, in Dallas

Game 6, Thursday, April 28, time TBD, in Salt Lake City

Game 7, Saturday, April 30, time TBD, in Dallas



https://giphy.com/gifs/season-13-the-sim...fullscreen  



https://www.nba.com/schedule



https://giphy.com/gifs/fleischerstudios-...fullscreen

[SleepingHero]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_LJ7auH5GU


Some positivity here among these trying times. Hope Luka is healthy. Dude is a magician.

[Hogmelon]

Move along (nothing to see here) ...

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/dalla...y/2938334/

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status...37994?s=21&t=ZLanKmKMjtOEdCIDP62TUg


Given how intentionally vague the Mavs have been regarding the injury, and how not even Woj could say anything definitive, I think there are like only 6 people that truly know Luka's status and his potential availability:

Nico
Finley
Kidd
Luka
Cuban
Casey 

Maybe Luka's agent as well. No wonder why we aren't getting anything. None of those guys would dare leak a word as Cuban would know instantly (and we all know he hates leaks). 

I know this might seem obvious to some, but I do want to restate it to maybe clarify why we aren't getting a word. If anything just to keep the conversation going.

[Hogmelon]

https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status...37994?s=21&t=ZLanKmKMjtOEdCIDP62TUg


Given how intentionally vague the Mavs have been regarding the injury, and how not even Woj could say anything definitive, I think there are like only 6 people that truly know Luka's status and his potential availability:

Nico
Finley
Kidd
Luka
Cuban
Casey 

Maybe Luka's agent as well. No wonder why we aren't getting anything. None of those guys would dare leak a word as Cuban would know instantly (and we all know he hates leaks). 

I know this might seem obvious to some, but I do want to restate it to maybe clarify why we aren't getting a word. If anything just to keep the conversation going.

I think the Mavs have little to gain by being tight-lipped about Luka's injury status, but they have ZERO to gain by being unnecessarily communicative.

[omahen]

Given how intentionally vague the Mavs have been regarding the injury, and how not even Woj could say anything definitive, I think there are like only 6 people that truly know Luka's status and his potential availability:

Nico
Finley
Kidd
Luka
Cuban
Casey 

Maybe Luka's agent as well. No wonder why we aren't getting anything. None of those guys would dare leak a word as Cuban would know instantly (and we all know he hates leaks). 

I know this might seem obvious to some, but I do want to restate it to maybe clarify why we aren't getting a word. If anything just to keep the conversation going.

I would be surprised there wouldn't be more people that know the truth, unless Luka himself is left completely in the dark. Luka likely speaks with his teammates and naturally everyone asks him about the injury. Even if he is separated from team activities for individual sessions they certainly communicate. I can't see a feasible scenario where he lies to them or tells them he can't tell them. I would imagine his family and agent also know what Luka knows. 

I think the truth is that they actually don't know yet. Which is good because it means it is not so severe that he is out without a doubt. I think Luka will do everything possible to play. He is injured, he is being treated and he will see if he can play on Saturday. Perhaps he sits the start of the series, but if Mavs fall behind he will be on the floor, I am fairly certain. He is the competitor. The question for me is not so much if he will play, but how well will he be able to play.

[burekemde]

Perhaps he sits the start of the series, but if Mavs fall behind he will be on the floor, I am fairly certain. He is the competitor.

This is a great assessment. I think it will be like this. Why play Luka, if the team potentially could win without him? Yes Utah is stronger against a Mavs team without Luka. But - Mavs have home court advantage. And Utah is not that much better, that this is automatic 0-4 Utah win without Luka. Players like SD and Brunson can explode any game, and if Mavs shoot well from 3, I don't see why not Mavs could win against Utah without Luka. They could make a 1-1 start, or even 2-0 for Mavs.

At very least, the team needs to give game 1 and possibly even game 2,without Luka, even if he could play sligthly injured, to give the team the chance to show a possible result. And if that is done, then it minimizes further injury to Luka. This would be win-win.

[ItsGoTime]

If Luka is doing anything at practice, even being at practice standing and not giving the body time to heal (esp at the beginning), that either points to stupidity, or the injury is way overblown. I really don’t think it’s stupidity.

[sefant]

If Luka is doing anything at practice, even being at practice standing and not giving the body time to heal (esp at the beginning), that either points to stupidity, or the injury is way overblown. I really don’t think it’s stupidity.

He did stationary bike apparantly. Not a calf medical expert, but sounds way too little early to do that, even for a minor grade 1.

Tho it might be a go figure moment.