Game 30: Minnesota Timberwolves (14-14) vs. Dallas Mavericks (19-10) | 1:30pm CST

[Mavs2021]

When Edwards talked sh*t after the decisive made lay-up Luka should have come out of the tunnel and listened to it, cause once again he set the tone with his piss poor attitude in the 1st half. I already saw it against Portland, but it was just Portland. He´s once again playing hurt since the Clippers game.

Less than 100% Luka drags down the whole team on offense this season. Once Luka and Kyrie set the tone taking all the dumb iso shots early, our whole focus and offense goes to crap. I never want to see Luka play in the regular season again, unless he´s 100% healthy or Kidd gives him the Carisle, when he started throwing careless passes and taking contested 3 point fadeaways with no legs underneath him.

[ThisIStheYear]

Well the Mavs showed some fight so not embarrassing. The problem is just the record is pretty mediocre compared to where they should be this late into Luka’s career. Luka still hasn’t been on a truly good regular season team, though he’s carried them to good playoff performances a couple of times. This is looking like another midd regular season.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I forget who it was, but somebody on here had stats of some other great players missing more time than Luka with injuries. It just feels like the last two year's, he's been more hurt then most. Sometimes, stats don't tell the whole story. Luka is out of shape, and his lack of conditioning is paying for it. It's why he has these nagging injuries that don't have time to fully heal.

[JamesConway912]

Just a really terrible game to watch. Even the comeback felt undeserved, Minny simply went ice cold. Our offense was brutal from the first possession on. If Kleber is truly back that’d be the single positive of this one.

- Dinwiddie and Gafford were brutal
- Lively with weak plays on offense (but at least good defense when it mattered), 
- Klay was good on defense but bad offensively (overthrew multiple lobs, missed open shots). Thankfully the Reggie Miller thing is FINALLY over.
- Kyrie was cooking but mostly alone on offense
- Grimes solid start but his play faded away
- Marshall doesn’t look right at the moment 
- Kleber with a really good game, second best Mav behind Kyrie

Really not the type of showing you’d have expected. Very underwhelming.

[JamesConway912]

Well the Mavs showed some fight so not embarrassing. The problem is just the record is pretty mediocre compared to where they should be this late into Luka’s career. Luka still hasn’t been on a truly good regular season team, though he’s carried them to good playoff performances a couple of times. This is looking like another midd regular season.

I think they’d have it in them to get into the high 50s, maybe even hit the 60 win mark. But the nonstop injuries from game 1 are absolutely killing them. They’re on pace to win 51-52 games but it would clearly be less than what they’re capable of Imo.

The injuries are one thing but looking back the decision to start Gafford over Lively early on probably also cost them a few games. Harsh but impact-wise I really don’t think it’s close. They have started increasing Lively’s minutes right now, I hope it stays that way.

[mvossman]

Ok. We can call it a SG/SF blend rotation. 

Re it being done before, the idea that Grimes was rotating with Klay was not relevant while Naji was sick and not an option. That has just changed. Its a relatively full lineup now, so we get a chance to see who they prefer when they have ALL their choices.

And Grimes is STILL the primary sub for Klay, playing SF/SG.

In any event,
1 Grimes is now ahead of Naji in the rotation, and 
2 both are in the SG/SF minutes mix. 

I keep harping on the latter because I keep seeing people asking why Naji isn't playing PF, and it's because he is not a PF (wasn't his position in NO, Mavs tried him a bit at PF but decided it was a bad move when they had a choice, and they don't seem to have any interest in trying to force that square peg in the round hole).

Is Naji on a similar path as Grant, ie a trade chip at the deadline? I still hope for DJJ, and Naji+Hardy is a salary match that works. Just saying.

The Naji hate is strange. Grant was a starter and terrible after the first week or two. He went to the second unit and continued to suck. Naji has been good (even with the poor three point shooting) and is just a few games back from long illness. He is so far from Grant right now, and I’m not sure DJJ would be an upgrade.

[Chicagojk]

Well I didn't the second half. Kudos to Minny though in the first half and third. They were clearly a desperate team and I should have seen that coming entering the game. They have had a bad 3 losses in a row after some solid play before that. Dallas came out a little too cool for school imo. I am sure seeing the struggling Minny team and one who you brushed aside in the playoffs gave them some confidence. I mentioned earlier the Mavs came out entertaining but forgetting winning games is really hard. You need to do the dirty things even when you are flowing. And the Mavs were not flowing.

Oh well on to the next game.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Charania] The Dallas Mavericks are bracing for star Luka Doncic to miss an extended period of time after sustaining a calf strain, sources tell me and @espn_macmahon. Doncic left the arena on crutches today in Dallas. He is expected to undergo an MRI on Thursday.

[F Gump]

The Naji hate is strange. Grant was a starter and terrible after the first week or two. He went to the second unit and continued to suck. Naji has been good (even with the poor three point shooting) and is just a few games back from long illness. He is so far from Grant right now, and I’m not sure DJJ would be an upgrade.

I'm not a Naji hater. Far from it.

My rotation observations are about who he is (which is relevant to where he can be useful and effective) and not about his general value. I do think he's often a clunky fit, but fit is not set in stone. "He's not a PF" is an observation, that bears on why he isn't now (and is unlikely later) to fill needs at that position. 

I value DJJ over him, but Mavs did too. 

I wouldn't trade Naji just to get rid of him, but I think DJJ is a different skill set who offers more of what Mavs tend to need. There's also an easy trade fit on the Financials. 

FWIW imo DFS would also be an upgrade over Naji, but including Naji in such a deal makes no sense because he's not part of an EASY salary match there, and thus totally gratuitous to such a trade.

[Deebo]

Dfs sucks. No thanks. Same with jones jr. I need better player if trading Marshall. Maxi and Marshall for a better player is what I need

[KillerLeft]

Dfs sucks. No thanks.  Same with jones jr.  I need better player if trading Marshall.  Maxi and Marshall for a better player is what I need

DFS doesn’t suck, but I wouldn’t give up Marshall for him, that’s for sure. 

DJJ feels like a major step backward to me. It seems like the current plan is to have only two-way players in the rotation, and he is most certainly not that.

[Chicagojk]

Charania] The Dallas Mavericks are bracing for star Luka Doncic to miss an extended period of time after sustaining a calf strain, sources tell me and @espn_macmahon. Doncic left the arena on crutches today in Dallas. He is expected to undergo an MRI on Thursday.

Well that really sucks.  Hopefully weeks and not months.  Mavs have played really well without Luka but really tough to expect them to keep up those results if he misses out extended time.  Il

[Mavs2021]

13-10 with Luka
6-1 without Luka (loss being in OT)

Not really that worried with Luka missing games from a winning perspective, since PJ, Grimes, Klay and Kyrie, who are all up to nearly 40+% 3pt shooting get to split unfit Luka´s shitty 10 threes per game. Naji gets more touches in the 2pt area, where he shoots a higher percentage than Luka. The real problem/danger is burning out Kyrie, so het gets hurt, too. Then we truly screwed.

[GATA]

6-2 without Luka with the vast majority of those wins being to scrubs

[BigDirk41]

I actually don't think Luka being out will hurt this team. I like the way they have played without him this season. I think everyone will step up. I really hope this season will be a learning lesson to start taking care of his body year round .

[Mavs2021]

6-2 without Luka with the vast majority of those wins being to scrubs

Denver (16-12), OKC (23-5), Clippers (17-13), Knicks (20-10), Hawks (15-15), Jazz (7-21), Heat (14-13)

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Denver (16-12), OKC (23-5), Clippers (17-13), Knicks (20-10), Hawks (15-15), Jazz (7-21), Heat (14-13)

6 out of 7 ain't bad. The Jazz are scrubs.

[Chicagojk]

Jeff Stotts who tracks averages on different injuries over time:

Re: Luka Doncic: A lot of variability in calf strains as the calf is a muscle complex made up of multiple muscles. The pending MRI will help determine the muscle involved & severity. All signs point to this being a more moderate strain. Average time lost for a Grade 2 strain is 15 games (~34 days).

[KillerLeft]

Jeff Stotts who tracks averages on different injuries over time:

Re: Luka Doncic: A lot of variability in calf strains as the calf is a muscle complex made up of multiple muscles. The pending MRI will help determine the muscle involved & severity. All signs point to this being a more moderate strain. Average time lost for a Grade 2 strain is 15 games (~34 days).

I’m more worried about the ratio of alcohol intake vs. energy output during those ~34 days than I am about the 15 games.

[mvossman]

13-10 with Luka
6-1 without Luka (loss being in OT)

Not really that worried with Luka missing games from a winning perspective, since PJ, Grimes, Klay and Kyrie, who are all up to nearly 40+% 3pt shooting get to split unfit Luka´s shitty 10 threes per game. Naji gets more touches in the 2pt area, where he shoots a higher percentage than Luka. The real problem/danger is burning out Kyrie, so het gets hurt, too. Then we truly screwed.

Small sample. Even playing well below his standard, he is still one of the best players on the court. This also means we are going to see a lot more of dinwiddie than I think most of us want.