Beal on Mavs: Luka Doncic ‘Can Get Any Shot He Wants’
DALLAS - It’s easy, from a Dallas Mavericks perspective, to find heaping praise on Luka Doncic for his season-opening 34-point explosion. Turns out, it’s easy for his first 2019-20 victim to heap praise, too.
“He had it going all night,” said Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal after Wednesday’s 108-100 Mavs win at the AAC. “He’s a tough guard. He’s a physical guy and he can get pretty much any shot that he wants.”
Beal is highly-qualified to serve as a judge here, given his status as an All-Star and given the fact that he was the game defender so often rendered helpless while Doncic shot the lights out and added nine assists.
Beal’s goal was fairly simple. “I just wanted to frustrate (Doncic) a little bit, “ he said.
Luka’s response: “That’s basketball. You don’t have any friends on the court. I respect him.”
Indeed, as the NBA is increasingly learning about its defending Rookie of the Year, Luka is as unflappable as he is unselfish. And here, his actions turned the bully into the benched, as Beal was eventually ejected for anti-Luka efforts that simply did not work.
“It was just hoops,” Beal said “You could see when I got kicked out, he was the first one that came up and dapped me. It wasn’t anything personal. It was just basketball. I was just trying to frustrate him.”
And how did Luka respond to what could be described as Beal’s “physical play”?
“He did well. ... he’s very crafty at what he does,” Beal said of the 20-year-old Slovenian. “He’s very gifted. He has a bright future, and he’s very mature for his age. He’s been a pro since he was ten probably. He knows what he’s doing.”
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle noted that Doncic requested turns marching against Beal, who, also thanks to the work of surprise starter Courtney Lee scored 19 points but was 1-of-11 from the arc in doing it.
“This is what great players do,'' Rick said of Luka and Beal going head-to-head. "There have been instances where Luka has asked to guard the best player. There is a small group of great players in the NBA. And you saw two of them tonight.''
