Luka Doncic was dealing with a sore left quad muscle on Saturday night, but it didn’t affect his performance, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. The Mavericks star had 39 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in a win at Golden State after being listed as questionable before the game and not being assured of playing until after warm-ups.
“The first half was really good,” Doncic said. “The third quarter, I started feeling it again. I had to warm up. Obviously, it’s a concern. It’s been (this way) since March. So obviously there’s a concern. I just try to keep lifting in the weight room. That helps me a lot. But obviously there’s a little bit of concern.”
Sefko notes that Dallas is 10-3 this season when shooting at least 40% from three-point range, which is exactly what the team hit on Saturday. Doncic helped by going 5-of-13 from beyond the arc, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr said his improved three-point shooting has made him more difficult to guard.
“In the past he was 34 (percent) from three and you’d go into the game and you’d trust the numbers (and) we’re not going to chase him off the line,” Kerr said. “But now he’s at 38 (percent) and that’s a pretty dramatic difference, so this is probably the best he’s ever played because of the consistency of that three-point shot setting up the rest of his game.”
There’s more on the Mavericks:
- Josh Green enjoyed his best game since returning from an elbow injury this week, scoring 18 points in 25 minutes off the bench against Golden State, Sefko adds in a separate story. Green, who missed 12 games while he was healing, was impressed by the players who filled in for him. “I’m so happy for guys like Dante (Exum) and D-Jones (Derrick Jones Jr.),” Green said. “They’ve done an amazing job. It’s been good for everybody and great for our team. But at the same time, I need to continue to progress and get better every game.”
- In another piece, Sefko examines the progress of rookie center Dereck Lively II, who has been outstanding some nights but often finds himself in foul trouble. “We’re asking a lot of D-Live,” Dwight Powell said. “And he’s doing an amazing job. He’s studying the game and bringing energy and effort. He’s impacting the game on a lot of levels. He’s doing everything in his power to shore up the things he needs to improve on. That’s a big challenge for rookies in this league, but especially centers.”
- Kyrie Irving has been listed as questionable for Monday’s game at Utah, giving him a chance to play for the first time since suffering a right heel contusion three weeks ago, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
Luka takes 10.5 threes per game this season. 34% means 3.57. Making 38% instead means 3.99
Is this improvement of about 1.3 points per game such a massive step to lead a team to change defense on him?
I think it’s more that Luka has a few more games when he makes lots of threes (12 out of 30, including against the Warriors, making at least five, shooting 55%), changing those games completely. Wins are all that matters, and in 40% of games his threes give a big push towards winning. So change your defense when you see he is on a good shooting night, but usually give him more room from outside while limiting his drives. If I had to defend against the Mavs: get the ball out of his hands all the time and count on his teammates not to be good enough to make shots. His supporting casts is still not reliable enough, especially against good teams.
That said, I’m not going to argue about three point shooting with Steve Kerr, of all people, nor going to teach anyone how to contain Luka.
Lively has been a great pick for this team. At 19 yrs old he’s playing 26 mins and almost avg a double double. Plus the rim protection has been invaluable. Lively has a good future. Posters should learn that a true Center. Is always needed and will never change. You don’t have rim protection with small ball. Or with shooters. Defense is half the game. And you can’t teach size.
Lively saved Nico Harrison. Tanking at the end of last year put them in a vulnerable position, yet they struck gold by getting Luka his Tyson chandler type of big that can play d, rebound, and be effective at the dunker / baby hook spot.
It’s really an amazing scouting job, as lively averaged 12 mins last year in college! Mavs were even able to trade their draft pick down 2 spots while assuming lively wasn’t a high-prospect for anyone but themselves.
Personally, I thought Mavs were doomed heading into this szn cuz they had no center.
I know technically, the Mavs tanked, but they really didn’t. They realized that they can win the next two games and would be out of the playoffs still if OKC won one of their last two games against weak teams.
But if they won their last two games they would have been in 11th place and lose their pick. They realized winning their last two games was a loser for them as they wouldn’t make the playoffs and lose their pick.
Three separate trades for Mavs:
1. OMax for Andre Drummond.
2. Grant Williams, Holmes and Josh Green for Siakam. Keep picks. Grant Williams is too short to be a power forward and too slow to guard shooting guards.
3. Next year Mavs can trade 3 first rounds (25,27,31). Use that and Irving to see if can get a big star. Irving is always going to have injury issues. He is a small guard that goes inside a lot to make tough awkward shots which land him on the ground all the time or with twisted ankles stepping on big feet inside.
Only 1 Q
What kinda drugs are we spiking Tor”s drinks with to make this happen ?