Game 40: Denver Nuggets (23-15) vs. Dallas Mavericks (22-17) | 8:30pm CST

[SleepingHero]

[SleepingHero]

@GrantAfseth

There is a growing sense that Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving will return from a five-game absence against the Denver Nuggets, sources indicate to DallasHoopsJournal.com.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

They better throw a bucket of water on Murray. He’s got 19 in the 1st qtr..

[KillerLeft]

The team is not playing very well. Hopefully, this is just a temporary lull.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

They also lost Lively to an ankle injury, will not return.

[BolsDamols]

Gafford being punked by 36 year old Deandre Jordan..dude is soft..Unfortunately, Lively is made of glass.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Murray is putting on a master class. He's lighting them up with 32 at the half. Jokic isn't even taking shots, he doesn't need to.

[BolsDamols]

Guys are just going through the motions. play like this and you are going to get embarrassed on your home court. and they are.

[Mavs42]

Luka the team needs you..........

[Mavs42]

Mavs haven't got any defense for Murray... They need someone that can defend the perimeter

[ThisIStheYear]

Getting punked on your home floor back to back is gutless. This team is cooked. Their window is closed. The Luka era is likely to end without a title and without even a good regular season. The best he’s done is 4th. Meh. The reason? Partly Jason Kidd. Partly his own preparation.

[SleepingHero]

Getting punked on your home floor back to back is gutless. This team is cooked. Their window is closed. The Luka era is likely to end without a title and without even a good regular season. The best he’s done is 4th. Meh.  The reason?  Partly Jason Kidd. Partly his own preparation.

This screams as if it was written by someone on their monthly period. 

Bad showing. No Lively or Luka is a big deal. Kyrie had a poor return. 

I'd say chillax but I think it'd be a fruitless endeavor here.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Does Hardy have the green light from Kidd? Everytime I see him, he's shooting the ball.

[ThisIStheYear]

This screams as if it was written by someone on their monthly period. 

Bad showing. No Lively or Luka is a big deal. Kyrie had a poor return. 

I'd say chillax but I think it'd be a fruitless endeavor here.

I just want one really good regular season in the Luka era. Just one. The hot streak in the playoffs was nice. But one consistent year would be great. The best players stack 57-62 win seasons and top 3 seeds.  Tired of watching mediocrity when I know the team could be great. The coaching sucks.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I just want one really good regular season in the Luka era. Just one. The hot streak in the playoffs was nice. But one consistent year would be great. The best players stack 57-62 win seasons and top 3 seeds.  Tired of watching mediocrity when I know the team could be great. The coaching sucks.

I wouldn't put the blame solely on Kidd's lap. The only way that happens is, if Luka takes the initiative to improve his conditioning. He's the lynchpin for how successful the team is or will become.  He led them to the Finals last year while playing hurt, and they still got bounced. He gets kudos for that. However, think about how it would be if he was totally 100% healthy and in shape? He owes that to himself, and the team. This year will be a lot tougher getting back there, as teams in the West have gotten better.  They are slipping in the standings until his return. I hope when he does come back from that pesky calf injury, he also did his due diligence in regard to his conditioning.

[Chicagojk]

Got to flush that one. Although very disappoining to go 0-2 playing the same time. That is tough for a team to beat you twice in a row on your home court...shorthanded or not.

The defense was really bad as was the energy. I thought PJ and Grimes were really bad...although no one was really good.

Just a really disappointing performance.

[Chicagojk]

Also stayed around until around 4 minutes left. Omax had some moments. I typically don't make any judgements on mop up duty in blowouts. I will say, Omax always plays hard. Although i have seen some playing mad recently from him. He needs to do this. Everytime he steps on the court he is fighting for his NBA future. That is a little dire, but he is certainly fighthing for a future role in Dallas. He just needs to be one of those guys that people hate playing against.

[Smitty]

Does Hardy have the green light from Kidd? Everytime I see him, he's shooting the ball.

I'd rather he shoot than dribble.

[JamesConway912]

Not easy to stay optimistic about Omax and Hardy, but at least Omax had a good game. Hardy needs to be lifted of almost all ballhandling duties. Just have him spot up, catch & drive on the move and attack closeouts. He really really needs the plays to be simplified for him or it’s a disaster waiting to happen. Very disappointing to see the last two games after his previous stint of improved play.

Big picture: UGH. What a season. Kyrie comes back, Lively IMMEDIATELY goes down. It just doesn’t stop. Hopefully Lively won’t be out for long.

Gafford has been playing poorly all season. He was the main reason for the slow starts early in the season. But big picture: he is probably a completely different player impact-wise once again the second the good/normal version of Luka returns. I am pretty confident in believing that. But right he’s dreadful to watch. VAJ is still a ***** but he outplayed the Mavs bigs for two games. Yuck. It’s always the guys we ran off / Cuban badmouthed who show up.

[JamesConway912]

I'd rather he shoot than dribble.

Yup.

There’s a brutal lowlight thread on twitter about some Hardy-turnovers. Just really really discouraging stuff.

https://x.com/pandahank41/status/1879388...18694?s=46&t=-bN4oD2OLU_Ue80HIM_CZQ

Rough watch. Technically he’s still on a second rounder rookie scale contract. That’s what I keep reminding myself.