Game 56 Dirkie Thread: Luka by a long neck.

[ballsrchr]

I thought this was a pretty good team game all around.

It's clear that Kidd has settled on starting, and playing, P.J. Washington a lot.

Kyrie is such a spark plug when we need it.

70 points by Kyrie and Luka. 53 by the rest of the team.

I'm giving my Dirkie to Luka.

[omahen]

I think everyone was playing well and delivered approximately according to expectations

[dirkfansince1998]

One of those rare games where everyone did what they are supposed to do. I know that Luka had a super efficient 41pts game and maybe I am taking him for granted but compared to his season averages that's not even a big outlier. Kyrie had an efficient 29pts game. PJ and Maxi played great defense. Green and Gafford hustled for every lose ball.
Looking at the degree of difficult of their tasks I am voting for PJ. KD was a real problem in the first half. Did nothing in the second half. PJ being the big wing/forward defender that the Mavs desperately needed had a lot to do with that.

[MrGoat]

Still had to rely a little too heavily on the big duo offensively for me to give it to anyone else in this one. It's a toss up between Luka and Kyrie for me, they both had some incredible stretches. Because it's Phoenix I'll lean Luka

[SleepingHero]

This was a pretty interesting game. I don't think the Mavs played particularly well. It was obvious they were a bit sluggish coming out of the ASB. Luka said it himself that the 1st game back from the ASB is the hardest, and they didn't have a particularly easy opponent. Like everyone said though, they came out and did exactly what they are supposed to do. This was a huge game for end of season standings should the Mavs continue to play well. Holding the tie breaker over the Suns could be the difference between the 6th seed or play in. Elated to say they walked away with a win.

Luka once again had a bonkers game. I am running out of adjectives to describe his greatness. I'm not trying to take his 41/9/11 for granted. He flat out put on a show. If I'm going to nitpick, some of his shot selection tonight could've been way better. He fell in love with the 3 at times and I felt he was a bit hesitant going to the rim. These are incredibly stupid nitpicks, but the Dirkie is a ruthless award and even the tiniest things could disqualify a performance. Of course we do not win this game without Luka and he took over the 3rd quarter. Mavs opened up the 2nd half with 5 out of 6 from 3, with Luka hitting 3 of his own and assisting on the other two. That put the Mavs foot on the Suns neck and they never looked back. What a great game from Luka, but I have to go with someone else for Dirkie tonight.

THE WARDEN STRIKES AGAIN! Kevin Durant, welcome to jail, cellblock P! The refs did not let PJ breathe on Durant in the 1st half. A couple of phantom calls and PJ was in foul trouble early. He adjusted incredibly well and made every single shot a hard look for Durant. KD hit a couple of tough shots, but that's what he does. KD at the end of the 1st half had 12 points on 5/11 from the field. His 2nd half was 11 points, 4/11 from the field. Not a huge difference, but KD was largely neutralized for the majority of the 3rd quarter. PJ also hit a great pull up 3 in transition in the 1st half and another spot up 3 in the 3rd. He had some nifty drives and was just more aggressive on offense than we've seen since he arrived. He's certainly getting more comfortable, but his defense has been a huge difference maker.

Speaking of defense, Maxi was huge tonight. His switchability on the perimeter is the biggest trump card our bench has. Not many teams can say they have a guy that can defend a center AND stop a guard. Maxi can do it. He also stepped up and hit a big 3 for momentum in the 4th and found a way to carve out space for some easy layups when PHX doubled (*we're going to choose to forget his missed one right underneath the basket). I've probably been a broken record but he's been probably our biggest non Luka/Kyrie guy during this win streak. Wrap him in bubble wrap please!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall, I have to give my Dirkie to Kyrie. Not only did he hit us with some razzle dazzle highlights, he brought the energy the Mavs desperately needed at the end of the 1st. He scored 8 quick points in 30 seconds and led a 13-4 run in 2 mins to close the 1st quarter out. He continued his hot shooting throughout the game, hitting 61% from the field. He drew charges. He defended well. He was a huge difference maker tonight. Kyrie gets my Dirkie even though I could probably give it to any one of the other guys above and it still feel right.

GREAT game from the Mavs! I hope they carry this same mindset into their grueling upcoming road trip.

Some other thoughts:

Only 16 mins for Lively tonight. It felt like the team missed him at times. I'm going to assume that he was on a minute restriction? I can understand the Mavs wanting to go small at times with Maxi on KD and playing 5 out. It worked. But Lively's presence was felt and I missed him!

Gafford had his first "regular" game for the Mavs. Only 4 points and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes of action. The Suns made it a point to take away any lob this game. He had a GREAT run in the 3rd quarter though. He had 1 nasty block on Booker that I felt provided the Mavs with some "F You" energy. He nearly had a highlight decimation a couple minutes later that was ruled a foul. I still liked what I saw from him and it makes me happy knowing the Mavs can run out 48 minutes of center play. The Suns did hunt him a bit in the 2nd quarter off of switches. It's hard to stop KD and Booker, and I thought Gaff did as best as he could have.

I really want to talk about THJ. Man I felt like he had such a good game today. Ever since the trade, his new role seems to mesh SO well here. Less THJ is more! His gravity makes teams have to respect him as if he gets in a groove, you're looking at an easy 30 points. He hit some tough shots, but that's what he does. His three isn't falling for what seems like the last month, but he didn't take a shot that I thought was forced. His defense wasn't great, but it never has been. I can get behind THJ in this specialized role off the bench. GREAT game from THJ!!

[SleepingHero]

[The Jom]

In a star-studded field full of top performances, Kyrie was the best player on the court. This despite not getting a single favorable whistle.

[SleepingHero]

Going to post a lot of post-game quotes/tweets that I liked:

Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
P.J. Washington on if he remembers ever winning four straight NBA games: "I was just telling somebody in the locker room, I think this is the longest win streak I've ever had in my career. So I'm just happy to be here."

Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
P.J. Washington on if tonight's win over the Suns felt like playoff basketball: "I don't know. I have never been to the playoffs. ... I guess [it did]."

Did it feel like play-in basketball?: "It felt a little better than play-in basketball."


Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando)
I asked P.J. Washington Jr. what he wants to sustain from this win streak going on the road.

“Our defense has to be there every night...”


Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon)
Mavs newcomer Daniel Gafford on Luka Doncic: “To me, he's the MVP. ... Seeing the things he does and Kyrie does, I'm just amazed. It's like I'm a kid of the candy store because I'm seeing two great players just go out and dominate.”


All Things Mavs (@All_Things_Mavs)
The LuKai duo just combined for…

70 points
14 rebounds
14 assists
4 steals
25/45 field goals
11/19 threes
9/9 free throws

and one huge win over the Phoenix Suns


Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
Dereck Lively II checked on Luka Doncic at least three times throughout the timeout after Doncic was hit in the face. Easy to see why Lively is often praised as a great teammate.


https://twitter.com/GrantAfseth/status/1...8641769742
^ link to the video of Lively checking on Luka!


https://twitter.com/Balldontlie/status/1...1866402065
Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie)
Luka's reaction to Kyrie cooking

[SleepingHero]

https://streamable.com/oorkfc

DJJ block on KD

SHEESH

[SleepingHero]

https://streamable.com/os4fp0

Gafford block on DBook

[SleepingHero]

[Mavs2021]

Unless Thing from the Addams Family lines up in the NBA that´s as clean a block as you can do. Obviously there will some contact, but if that´s a foul Luka should have about 25 FTs every game.

[JamesConway912]

Just finished watching, what a game. Felt a lot like a playoff matchup.

- KD is still insanely good, but he was kept to 23 points on 22 FGAs while picking up some TOs. PJ did a great job defending in most matchups.

- Booker had a great game, probably not gonna happen to slow both guys down simultaneously.

- Dirkie is a split for me so I don’t vote. Luka and Kyrie really took it to PHX but PJ was crucial defensively, these three stood out to me.

- It was good to see them play a lot of lineups with PJ/Kleber at PF. The results weren’t super impressive yet but it’s not like those lineups have gotten a ton of run so far this year. I think we’ll have something positive here come playoff time.

- Lively got outplayed badly in the first half by Nurkic who just moved him around under the basket. He was improved in the second half but Imo he was the third best option at C tonight 

- Gafford struggled as well as he got shut down on offense but he at least controlled the board a bit better than DLive

- Enjoyed the Kleber minutes but got outmuscled a few times under the rim. Did help contain KD and helped space the floor on offense. Imo our best C tonight when he played the 5.

- Overall the C-position is night and day compared to a few weeks ago. Back then the game basically would have been over due to Lively having a rare bad stretch in the first half. Now they have a bulkier option with Gafford behind him and Kleber is finally looking better again. The depth & matchup flexibility we have here is making things extremely difficult for opposing teams.

- THjr had some timely buckets but I think they overplayed him in the first half. Also didn’t like to see him subbed in in crunch time over Green who just impacted the game more positive Imo.

- Green very energetic, made some mistakes defensively but overall just a positive impact guy. Shoots the three well, super quick, moves the ball, always active on defense, the boards and in transition. 5 assits completely within the flow of the offense is a big help

- DJJ was solid too, but it looks more and more like he’ll be the guy on the wings who will see his minutes decline the most imo.

- Overall we continue to look really good. The one big issue I see is that they only have less than 30 games left to build chemistry and figure out the rotations. The substitutions have been varying pretty much from
game to game since the trade, I hope they’ll figure things out quickly. 

Some things I’d do:

- commit to the starting unit
- fewer minutes but more catch and shoot stuff for THjr as Luka/Kyrie and Exum are better ballhandlers 
- try to get PJ up into the 30s
minute-wise; he’s remains extremely impactful out there without even shooting overly well 
- stick with PJ/Kleber at PF a lot; that has a good trickle down effect size-wise and in theory both should be able to shoot enough from
three to get away with that at PF
- Lively+Gafford should play C a lot with the occasional Kleber at Center-action being sprinkled in; that way you’re putting up a ton of pressure on the rim by default and whenever going smaller is the better option you’ll have a more rested Kleber coming in

They still have a lot to figure out but this looks like a very dangerous team once the postseason comes around. I think we’re very versatile now that we’ve added size and athleticism in our frontcourt which should help negating our problems against bigger teams. Just gotta stay healthy, then I don’t see why we should not be in the conversation for homecourt advantage in a few weeks.

[Halfnir]

Unless Thing from the Addams Family lines up in the NBA that´s as clean a block as you can do. Obviously there will some contact, but if that´s a foul Luka should have about 25 FTs every game.

Was my first reaction as well, but after watching the replay I disagree. Gafford jumps forward into Booker so this can not be clean. Right call by the refs imo. They explicitly mentioned jumping from A to B in the review explanation as well. 

But you are right on Luka not getting enough calls in similar situations.

[Chicagojk]

Tough one. I think I am going to give it to Kyrie. With the run Luka is on now, if Kyrie also has an A game, this team is tough to beat. Especially if they can be at least average on defense.

[ItsGoTime]

Unless Thing from the Addams Family lines up in the NBA that´s as clean a block as you can do. Obviously there will some contact, but if that´s a foul Luka should have about 25 FTs every game.

That picture doesn’t tell much of the story on that block attempt at all. Gafford jumped into Booker, not straight up and down. His first contact with Booker was with his right forearm where he used it to slow Booker’s progress. They hit shoulder to shoulder before this picture was even taken. It was a very clear foul on Gafford.

[SleepingHero]

That picture doesn’t tell much of the story on that block attempt at all. Gafford jumped into Booker, not straight up and down. His first contact with Booker was with his right forearm where he used it to slow Booker’s progress. They hit shoulder to shoulder before this picture was even taken. It was a very clear foul on Gafford.

You're right, but problem is the refs were inconsistently calling contact all night long. PHX got away with a bunch of similar contact no calls. I mean Nurkic literally tackled Luka. 

If they were consistent, that would've been a no call. The Suns got a real soft whistle while the Mavs had to deal with the opposite. 

So yes it was a foul on Gafford, but it shoulda been an absolute decimation.

[SleepingHero]