Doncic Wreck – AS.com

Without Doncic there is no paradise. He would be the starter if the Slovenian weren’t present, even if only physically. The star was wrecked against the Nuggets, which got a very important victory from Texas without Nikola Jokic. In a defensive and slow game (38 fouls and 27 total defeats) it was the Colorado team that prevailed, leaving Luka Doncic in despair and adding an important victory against a direct rival in a Western Conference where there are constant changes every day. In fact, both teams arrived with the same record (9-6) and, after the result, the Nuggets come out with a 10-6 record which leaves them in fourth position. while the Mavs remain 9-7 and in ninth place in the West. This is the traditionally strongest NBA and Conference, without a clear ruler, subject to constant change and eternal variations.

The situation in the game didn’t clear up until the second half, when the Nuggets tried to step on the accelerator and went up to 10 points, the maximum of the evening (76-66 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter). That’s where Doncic appeared, climbing to 10 points in those 12 minutes, in which he did not sit. Jason Kidd tried to correct the dynamics and gave him rest in the last period, in which he played just 5 minutes with less than 2 from Christian Wood (5 points in the entire game), a trend that the Mavs are still unsolved; but things didn’t go well: an assist from Doncic allowed a dunk by Dwight Powell two minutes from the end, putting the locals ahead by 4 points (97-93), a remarkable distance in such a defensive and tight game. There were no more Mavs field goals, though: two free throws by Bones Hyland and a triple by Michael Porter settled things; Bruce Brown needed Doncic to get free seconds in the first place and his team wasn’t in bonuses. The subsequent sentence of the Slovenian, who complained to the referees with the regulation time expired, put the point and the end. To the victory of some and the shipwreck of others. A matter of perspective.

Doncic finished with 22 points, but was 7-of-16 from the field, 2-of-8 from 3-pointers, and 6-of-10 from free throws. He has entered a rather worrying spiral of irregularities after exceeding thirty points in the first 9 games, and combines memorable performances with nights in which he looks tired and out of his mind. He averages over 33 points, adds triple-doubles and is a favorite for MVP … but it seems the Mavericks are making do despite how cheap the conference finals are in an ownerless West. They returned to the parsimonious style of play that the Rockets of James Harden and Mike D’Antoni had, with Luka Doncic the epicenter of a system in which everyone is open, many triples are thrown and one tries to defend effectively. And which allows, when he is not tired, to highlight Doncic; but it makes it hard to winr. Today, apart from the Slovenian, a bad 0 of 9 shooting by Tim Hardaway, 11 points by Spencer Dinwiddie, another 11 by Dwight Powell, and 23 by Josh Green, the best of the game, off the bench: 8 of 9 shooting from field, with 6 of 7 in triples.

All of this wasn’t enough even if Jokic and Jamal Murray weren’t there. Great work by Mike Malone, very confident in his decision making and win the game against a Kidd whose management continues to be positive but lacks the resources in tight ends, in which it is very predictable. DeAndre Jordan, starting center, had 8 points and 17 rebounds; Porter with 14 points, Brown with 12 (with 4 rebounds and 8 assists) and Hyland, off the bench, with 29 as a differentiator. Excellent image of a team that remains competitive despite the last few years full of difficulties in the form of injuries and that is very well worked on both sides of the track. Good reading of the game, good adaptation to opponents, energy every night… In short, a team of gentlemen. It’s what the Nuggets are. That’s what the Mavericks want to be. And, for this, they need Luka Doncic. But not almost every day: on everyone.