Game 59 Now A Game Thread: Mavs(31-27) at Lakers(34-21), 9:00 PM Central Time

[SleepingHero]

That’s literally what it is. His impact on the game tonight would have been the exact same if he had 7 or 8 rebounds in the box score instead of 15.  It’s not like he’s taking rebounds away from the opposing team. He’s getting them instead of his own bigs.

I mean I'll need to go back and look at each rebound,  but realistically I'll just agree to disagree with ya here on this one bro.

I do agree if the Mavs had their bigs healthy (I said the catchphrase!), then this game would definitely have been different. Luka had a pretty poor game by the standards we're used to seeing.

But in the end he still did enough, particularly finding Lebron on the mismatch 3 times, in the final 5 minutes which sealed the game. Stat padding or not, Luka did help LA win the game.

[SleepingHero]

I love how the fans trolled Nico with the chants. I’m really disappointed this was the first stadium wide chant I’ve heard. Really thought the Mavs fans would let him hear it at home.

They've kicked people out starting any chant and have drowned out the crowds with fake fan noises. I've literally never seen anything like that in the AAC in my lifetime.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Steph or Kyrie could probably average 8 rebounds a game if they wanted to spam stats and have their teammates leave them uncontested defensive rebounds.

Obviously I think his points and assists are organic. He’s a great player. But he gets the star player rebounds so he can spam triple doubles.

Nothing bothers me more about the NBA more,than the obsession with triple doubles.

[LukaMVP]

I think our poor shooting efficiency tonight may explain the exaggerated number of rebounds for luka tbh. and the Lakers also played small the majority of time tonight.

[FireNicoHarrison]

I think our poor shooting efficiency tonight may explain the exaggerated number of rebounds for luka tbh. and the Lakers also played small the majority of time tonight.

Fakers have no quality bigs this year... They are forced to play small ball at the end of every game.

[omahen]

Not a very good offensive game on both sides. While Mavs missed a lot of players, Lakers were bad from three, missed a bunch of open looks. I liked Luka didn't force it too much and played real team ball.

Re Roy and "stat padding". There is a great advantage for PG to collect the defensive rebound, as it gets you to transition much faster. Like throwing that full court passes and similar. Of course, you can always choose to be negative...

[omahen]

Fakers have no quality bigs this year... They are forced to play small ball at the end of every game.

They have a bunch of big strong wings capable of guarding centers and they will provide problems for opponents on offense a lot. I think they will have way more problems against "small" quick teams than against teams with more traditional centers.

[omahen]

Btw - anyone noticed why they took one of Luka threes away in the first quarter? I was skipping timeouts so I didn't see the explanation.

[Jym]

Btw - anyone noticed why they took one of Luka threes away in the first quarter? I was skipping timeouts so I didn't see the explanation.

his foot was on the out-of-bounds line

[audiosway]

Watching the post game you can see he still wishes he was in Dallas.

[Knutsen]

He was. He tried to do too much and got all out of rhythm. He and PJ played so poorly. I’m not worried about either one of them. Let them play their usual positions and they are likely to be two high quality starters. 
It seems like we missed all 20 shots to take the lead. We had numerous chances to really do something tonight.

Isn’t that somehow expected by a 21 year old playing the team that drafted him and believed in him for the first time? I‘m more interested in how he’ll learn and mature from experiences like this in the next months. 

I guess you could say the same about PJ. His role here was that of a defensive leader and offensive role player. Before with the Hornets it was the other way around. Can he put those two roles together consistently in the feature and develop into a borderline allstar player?

That is if he doesn’t get wiped out for KD by Nico in the summer of course.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

I'm just going to put this out here, as foolish as it may sound and it may be a bit unprofessional, but PJ seems to me like he cruised in this game, didn't defend as hard, didn't go all out for a win. The dude loves Luka and he probably gave him a pass and the next game against him would be a real one. He didn't intentionally missed shots of course, but PJ to me didn't looked like he was playing to win.

[BolsDamols]

Lol looks like someone is not happy Luka got a triple double.

[BolsDamols]

Luka was moving well in the first half, much better than he has the last few games. Kind of lost steam in the 2nd half..His 3 ball is still not where its supposed to be, but he was getting to his spots in the paint.

Even in purple and gold, refs still hate him hehe

[cow]

Lakers get blown out if the Mavs are healthy. That was way too close for LA being full strength. Luka does look tired.

He just said he is exhausted. Looks hurt (emotionally) still as well.

Mavs being healthy is always going to be a big if with AD and Lively on the squad.

[omahen]

Mavs being healthy is always going to be a big if with AD and Lively on the squad.

And Kyrie. Last time he played 70 games (72) was in 2016-17 and he never played more than 75. Only missed 3 games this season

[david75090]

It was a clear foul

An in-yo-face intentional foul with the ref standing right there. I was screaming at the TV. Can't remember ever calling for a foul that would favor a member of the other team, which Luka is. A foul is a foul. Then to call a tech for griping about an obvious foul. Insult to injury. And it was insulting.

[KillerLeft]

An in-yo-face intentional foul with the ref standing right there. I was screaming at the TV. Can't remember ever calling for a foul that would favor a member of the other team, which Luka is. A foul is a foul. Then to call a tech for griping about an obvious foul. Insult to injury. And it was insulting.

I say again: After watching the replay, I thought it was an amazing call, I thought PJ dislodged the ball BEFORE contact was made with the arm, just as the ref indicated. Don't think he makes that call if it's not Luka, however.

[Chicagojk]

I didn't watch the game. Battling the flu but didn't think I am ready to watch Luka vs the Mavs anyway. I got to say, major props how Luka is handling this. Honest, real stuff. Unlike the Mavs, who displayed no human touch in their limited comments. Also, the joke making at the press conference and the stupid comments by the owner. This team better invest in a crisis manager, because they failed every step of the way.

It is just one game and PJ is a little up and down, but he has a bigger focus now. His bad games can't be 0 for games. He needs to find ways to make a few shots...even on off nights. More importantly get to the line 5-6 times. That is ways you can hide your stinker games and do all the other stuff he does.

I saw video of AD and Lively shooting prior to the game. I will be surprised if we see Lively before 4 weeks. It appears he still needs plenty of time. Not sure about AD. You remember when our training staff thought Martin was 1-2 weeks away from playing? That was fun times.

[ThisIStheYear]

And Kyrie. Last time he played 70 games (72) was in 2016-17 and he never played more than 75. Only missed 3 games this season

It’s a contract year. Don’t be fooled. I love Kai, but he’ll revert to street clothes once he has another bag.