Game 72 Dirkie Thread: P.J. Washington...by a whole lot of barleycorns.

[ballsrchr]

Who played above expectations

[Scott41theMavs]

THJ, with a huge honorable mention to PJ.

[KillerLeft]

I had to update the poll in order to cast my vote. I hope the OP does not mind.

[MrGoat]

PJ. Any time he hits a 3 it's gravy and he hit some early. Was all over the glass, too

Lively was amazing in the 3rd quarter and deserves at least a shoutout, though

[ballsrchr]

One down, one more on Friday. The Mavs came in, took care of business, and won going away. The best thing is that this is no longer a two man show. The Mavs are a team.

This Mavs team is not the same team that faced the Kings in Dallas. Now we have some muscle and skill in key positions. I'm not going to say it's perfect, but it pretty damn good--right now. We all know how things can turn at the drop of a hat.

I like it when there are multiple candidates for the Dirkie. I'll point out right now that I forgot to put Exum in the poll. He doesn't have eye popping stats, but the eye test indicates that he is vital to this team. I wouldn't have given him my Dirkie in any case, so the wind blows fickle.

PJ Washington deserves some consideration. So does DJJ. Gafford got into a little foul trouble--and Lively was playing quite good, so it's a wash.

Kyrie has several gears. He can shift up when needed--and he did.

Luka just did Luka stuff...and was able to rest part of the game.

Alright! I admit it. THJ was fairly warm tonight. He also deserves some consideration.

It was good to see Hardy and Lawson get some playing time. At least one of these guys may be important to the team later on. Maybe both...

I'll give my Dirkie to THJ. I certainly didn't expect him to play that well.

[ballsrchr]

I had to update the poll in order to cast my vote. I hope the OP does not mind.

Not at all.  I considered putting him in the poll.  He played Sabonis really stiff.  Certainly a good choice.

[The Jom]

Third-quarter Kyrie gets my vote. He was the catalyst of that insane 24 point surge in the opening 5:30.

Honorable mention to PJ’s haircut, which appears to have pulled him out of his funk. A reverse-Sampson effect?

[Hypermav]

PJail bringing it on both sides of the ball.

[MFFL]

THJ deserves the dirkie and would win except for the exceptional play of PJ

Great job Mavs!

[youzigizag]

Really a good thing seeing PJ get hyped up about forcing Sabonis to pass out which lead to no points. He immediately turned to our bench and started getting hyped up with the bench.

He followed that play(shutting Sabonis down) immediately with a made contested 3 at the other end and got hyped again.

Him liking his own work is a good thing.

[SleepingHero]

I just managed to watch the game after an overnight shift.

First off. Wow. What a game. What fight. Incredible victory especially the 2nd half. So many guys deserve a dirkie tonight. In a game that dictates so much for playoff seeding, having Luka sit the entire 4th quarter because the team absolutely destroyed the Kings brings a tear to my face.

Luka freaking Doncic. What a warrior man. So we've finally put a label to what has been hampering Luka the last week and a half. I gotta admit, going into the game knowing he had achilles soreness, every single time Luka touched it I winced. I was praying he was going to be okay. The fact he was grimacing and limping the entire first half didn't help my nerves. But does that matter for any normal person? No. He's Luka. He's a bonafide superstar made of vibranium. He started the game off a little slow in terms of picking his spots. He still put up 7/3/4 in 8 minutes to establish the Mavs. His 2nd quarter is where he really popped off. 6/10 and 19 points for the Don and Sacramento just couldn't do anything. AND THIS WAS ON A 2ND NIGHT OF A B2B AND THE DUDE WAS LIMPING! That was basically the night for Luka as in the 2nd half, everyone else stepped up and he didn't have to do a thing. No dirkie for him tonight, but he deserves all the praise for playing and carrying this team the way he has. Get some rest Luka!

Speaking of carrying this team, Dereck Lively had an incredible game. His defense in the 3rd quarter was the stuff of legends. He was licking some wounds in the 1st half where Sabonis got the better of him most of the time, but in the 3rd it was almost like Cyborg Lively downloaded the update and basically snuffed out every single attempt for the Kings. His statline of 4/7/1/1/2 is nothing spectacular but it doesn't speak to how impactful he was. He had a couple of fantastic highlight plays destroying a layup attempt by Duarte and managing to catch a transition pass for a dunk by Kyrie. Lively has a lot of growth in him, but even if he stays as he is, he is a fantastic center in the league.

Shoutout to PJ Washington. He was due for a game where his shot was falling. He opened the 1st with 2 threes and was basically everywhere on the court. He could've easily had 20 points tonight if the balls bounced a little differently. Moreover he was a menace on the boards. 13 of them to be exact. Against a team like the Kings who are so physical on the glass, having PJ down there boxing out and giving his all made a difference tonight. More of this from him!

Another dude who deserves a shoutout for breaking out of his offensive slump is THJ. This is the first game in almost 6 weeks where Timmy looked himself offensively. He took some crazy shots, but he also hit some crazy shots. Such is the way of THJ. But no matter. He was on one tonight and the team needed every one of his 22 points off the bench. SAC as a team had 24 bench points from their regular guys before garbage time. Timmy almost outscored them by himself. What a game from Hardaway. Hopefully he keeps this momentum for Friday.

Finally, the batman to Luka's batman. Kyrie Irving. On a 2nd night of a back to back, Kyrie showed why there aren't many guards ahead of him in the league. His ability to pour on the points reminds me of very few scorers I've ever seen. Kobe. Allen Iverson. Steph. Kyrie is cut from that same cloth. After a quiet first half where he went 3/7 and scored 6 points, he absolutely exploded in the 2nd half. The Kings were at a loss of what to do. They tried doubling Kyrie. They tried sinking the floor. They tried hedging, playing high, playing drop. Didn't matter. Kyrie torched them en route to an 18 point half where he shot 7/12 including 4/7 from 3. That was basically the game. The Kings couldn't keep up with Kyrie shooting in the 3rd where he was almost perfect 5/6. Couple that with Timmy who also was hot and that meant Luka could get some rest. GG Kyrie. Dirkie for you.

Incredible game from the Mavs offensively and defensively. Lets hope they regroup, rest up, and lock in for Friday to really cement their lead over the Kings.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/triplethreadnba/stat...nqxbaL7e9w

PJ's defense man.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I’ve found it tough to get invested in this team. Friday is a big game.

If they’re happy with a split in Sacramento and come out flat, I’m gonna be disappointed.

Sacramento is gonna be pissed getting embarrassed on national TV at home. If we take their best shot and still prevail on Friday, I’m buying in.

[KillerLeft]

I’ve found it tough to get invested in this team. Friday is a big game.

If they’re happy with a split in Sacramento and come out flat, I’m gonna be disappointed.

Sacramento is gonna be pissed getting embarrassed on national TV at home. If we take their best shot and still prevail on Friday, I’m buying in.

That's a fair line to draw. I'm personally already invested, just knowing they have this gear to go to, but I think that's fair.

[ThisIStheYear]

PJ played well. I just thought Kyrie stepped up as a leader. Best performance of the year all in all. I hope they can play 95% as well in game 2.