GAME 1 2024 PLAYOFFS DIRKIE: LUKA!!!!

[SleepingHero]

[Berknip]

Kyrie prevented the Mavs from having to dig out from a big hole in the first and set the tone/example for the energy needed to play this one.

[dirkfansince1998]

Mavs officially have a big three. If Gobert counts for the Wolves. So does Lively for the Mavs. Lively with another incredible all around performance. Without him the Mavs defense collapses. Would be a well deserved Dirkie for him but there are two more contenders. Kyrie for his carry job in the first half. One man offense when the entire team was struggling. Game might be over if he isn't dropping 20+. Luka for closing the game. When Kyrie went cold he was ready for the moment and looked like a completly different player. Sluggish and lazy in the first three quarters. But in the clutch he was everywhere and made the game winning plays on both ends.
I think today I am voting Luka. Feels like he is getting a lot of shit from NBA media these days. New shinny toys like Edwards or SGA are more marketable. But when it mattered most Luka reminded them that he has another gear that both cannot match.

[fifteenth]

Such a team win. Kyrie got it started. DJJ and PJ led the great 4th quarter D, Luka brought it home and PJ hit that critical 3 down the stretch. I don't know who to pick.

[ThisIStheYear]

Dlive with an honorable mention because he had a mammoth plus minus again. He’s been amazing. Luka made a handful of great defensive plays down the stretch and, that’s right, closed them out on offense.

[SleepingHero]

WHAT A FREAKING GAME! WHAT AN OPENER! MAVS STEAL HOMECOURT! THEY TAKE GAME 1 FOR THE FIRST TIME UNDER JASON KIDD!

So many great moments this game. I was on the edge of my seat. I was on DVR delay because the amount of things my wife was making me do while the game was on felt endless. DESPITE THAT! MY HEART WAS POUNDING!

SHEESH!

Onto the Dirkie candidates!

Hardy! Wow, I'm shocked how he has grown as a playmaker in a little under a year. Heck in just 2 months. Hardy was not this type of playmaker in February. He is making some hard passes and is always looking for the lob. I am starting to get a little excited at his potential over the summer. He might be able to be the 6th man scorer/playmaker we're looking for next season.

Gafford... Ya know he probably has the toughest job right now in the series. Going against Gobert down low isn't easy. Despite that he fought like crazy. Did he have a good game? Not really. But he fought and hustled. He had 2 key moments I thought in this game, one was a massive boxout on Gobert that gave DJJ a chance to get an offensive rebound late in the 4th. Another was his massive alley oop from Kyrie in the 3rd. He skied and slammed that thing down and he made Gobert look small. Still... He had some dumb moments too. Still, solid game from Gafford. A little sloppy but hopefully he cleans it up next game.

DJJ had an incredible defensive performance on Ant tonight. He was fighting over every screen and tired out Ant. He never really got beat off the dribble which was surprising, but you can explain that away with Ant having tired legs. I don't think that will happen next game, but no matter, DJJ had a great defensive game. He missed some easy 3s, but he made up for it by hitting some crazy layups.

PJ Washington had a defensive game for the ages. He has such a tough job trying to fight through every screen and he is giving up nearly half a foot on Kat. And yet he bothered Kat a lot. I thought Kat got away with at least 3 offensive fouls that led to buckets too. Offensively he was a little slow to start, but PJ once again stepped up in the 4th and hit a HUGE 3 in the 4th to put the Mavs up by 2. Amazing game by PJ.

DLIVE WOW! HOW DOES A ROOKIE COME IN AND SNATCH GOBERT'S LUNCH MONEY ON HIS HOME COURT IN GAME 1???? Where Gafford lacked in energy, Lively brought 2x as much. He was everywhere tonight. He contained the Wolves drives pretty well. He boxed out well consistently. He made some great hard screens. Lively is doing all the little things. He has to keep it up though. I loved how confident he looked shooting his lone FT tonight.

Kyrie freaking Irving. The sorcerer of basketball. He came out absolutely swinging with 13 1st quarter points and continued with 11 2nd quarter points. He carried the Mavs through a shaky start and just attacked and attacked and attacked the Wolves. He got into the lane at will and finished with his right hand, left hand, his backside of his hand. He floated, slashed, and exploded past the Wolves defenders. He put up 30 points without having his 3pt shot fall too! Just a masterclass of a game. Incredible measured game by Kyrie.

BUT my Dirkie winner has to go to Luka. SHEESH. What an opening game by Luka. He literally did it all in the 2nd half. He opened the 3rd quarter with back to back assists to Gafford for dunks. He boxed out and rebounded. He went on his own 7-0 run in the 3rd to put the Mavs up and made the Wolves call timeout. When it mattered most Luka just couldn't be stopped in the 4th, looking a bit like the uninjured Luka of last month, scoring 15 points and hitting the dagger jumper over McDaniels. He locked in on defense too, coming up with the biggest defensive play, blocking the Gobert lob. WHAT A GAME BY THE DON! And what's crazy is that this wasn't even a "great" game by Luka's standards. 33/6/8/ is usually a career high for most. For Luka it's an average game. He's unreal. I'm glad to see he's moving better and is starting to find his rhythm. I hope he comes back game 2 looking even more spry!


Dishonorable mention: Josh Green
Josh Green. MY fucking god. He was trying to lose this game. There is no other way around it. The amount of mistakes he made over and over made me pull out at least 7 hairs. To close out the 3rd, Green flubs the easiest dunk off of an incredible Luka pass. That leads to a transition 3 for Naz Reid. 5 point swing off of a missed dunk that never should've happened. He then comes down 30 seconds later and literally throws it away for no reason because he was trying to push the tempo when they should've slowed it down. What happens? MIN comes down and scores. Instead of the Mavs potentially being up 5 or 7 to close the 3rd, they're down 1. He then tops it by fouling Conley FOR LITERALLY NO REASON and give Minny legit the ONLY chance they had to tie/win the game. Absolutely fucking horrible. Silver lining? He is going to be better in the 2nd game... because that game was absolute rock bottom and there's no where to go but up for him.

[The Jom]

Great, great team effort. For the first time all year, I’m starting to think we could bring home this year’s Larry. Obvious candidates are any of the big 4. Kyrie early. Luka late. Lively whenever he was on the floor. PJ with terrific defense. All good choices.

But as far as raising their level of play, I’m going with one of the fellas who really surprised me.

Key to this game from my seat, and perhaps the series, Minny only plays 8 guys. Period. Thought the game plan tonight was to throw 10 at their 8 and wear em down first half. Crucial to that, the efficient performances of 2 unlikely heroes.

THJ, who can’t buy a bucket any longer, played 10 good minutes without a FG attempt, grabbed 4 rebounds and a steal, and finished +7 on the evening. If you didn’t notice, it’s probably because none of us has ever seen this player before. Ever.

In similar form, Jaden Hardy went 1 for 2 from the field in his 9 minutes. That likewise doesn’t qualify as chucking. He also dished 4 assists, grabbed a board and a steal, and finished +4.

Those are big contributors. I’m voting Party.

[SleepingHero]

Jo (@MavsStan41)
1:04 left in the 4th quarter, Mavs up 104-102. Luka breaks up a Rudy Gobert lob that would have tied the game. Then walks down Jaden McDaniels 1 on 1, hits a middie over him to make it a 4 point game with 49 seconds left. Absolutely huge winning plays by Luka Doncic.


https://x.com/MavsStan41/status/1793483588824121464

[Smitty]

I went with Lively. He deserves his flowers. What a young beast!

[MrGoat]

It's either Luka or Kyrie with an honorable mention to D Live.

I'll go with Kyrie, he was huge at keeping us in it with a rare 1st half appearance, and while Luka was great in the 4th he took some shots that pissed me off and that one awful turnover on the sloppy full court pass killed our momentum for a bit.

I'm splitting hairs, though. Either one really deserves it

[SleepingHero]

Josh Eberley (@JoshEberley)
Dallas:

Shot 12(!) fewer threes
Turned it over more
Lost in second chance points
Lost in fast break points

Still won.

nick wright (@getnickwright)
So Dallas just became the 5th team ever to lose the 3pt battle by 12 or more 3s and win a playoff game.

Absolutely massive.

[SleepingHero]

Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA)
Luka Doncic in the 4th quarter:

15 points
5-8 FG
2-3 3PT
3 rebounds
2 steals
1 block

[MrGoat]

Josh Eberley (@JoshEberley)
Dallas:

Shot 12(!) fewer threes
Turned it over more
Lost in second chance points
Lost in fast break points

Still won.

nick wright (@getnickwright)
So Dallas just became the 5th team ever to lose the 3pt battle by 12 or more 3s and win a playoff game.

Absolutely massive.

62-38 in paint points, though. I'll admit against Minnesota's enormous front line I didn't have that on my bingo card

[KillerLeft]

Just posted a huge stream of thought take in the game thread, so I won't repeat myself here, but I think it's Kyrie for me tonight, both for his stellar performance and what is obviously some top notch leadership.

Luka and Lively were deserving, too.

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/StanfordSteve82/status/179...6691645462

Incredible defensive breakdown of every big play Luka made by none other than Tim Legler!

MUST WATCH!

[fifteenth]

https://x.com/StanfordSteve82/status/179...6691645462

Incredible defensive breakdown of every big play Luka made by none other than Tim Legler!

MUST WATCH!

I was yelling "Luka! Luka!" in Boomer Jack's on that play

[KillerLeft]

In before Winter.

This guy is gold!

https://www.youtube.com/live/p-k7bYceXuU...ayR_DCgbwp

[omahen]

In before Winter.

This guy is gold!

https://www.youtube.com/live/p-k7bYceXuU...ayR_DCgbwp

Yeah, he is great. I had the same feeling. Despite Mavs being behind for most of the game and won by a couple of points, they felt like a much better team in the game. Another point - in-game commentators were speaking about Edwards being exhausted in the fourth, yet all we are listening to for his entire career is how out of shape Luka is. Perhaps, it is just not easy (even possible?) to carry team on both ends. Even for an athlete like Edwards.

[BolsDamols]

Wolves had a 4 pt lead and Luka takes a 3 point shot.. Luka misses that we probably lose the game..Has to be Luka with Kyrie as close second.

[fifteenth]

More fun video breakdown

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xqp0x1GkCIw