Luka Doncic Out-Duels Durant & Kyrie in OT: Mavs 129-125 Over Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are the NBA's version of a real-life cartoon, featuring big, loud, colorful and outlandish characters fully capable of keeping the public's attention with feats both majestic and goofy.
They are also, however, loaded with premium talent, which makes Thursday night's 129-125 Dallas Mavs' road win in OT all the more impressive.
The Nets played on the second night of a back-to-back, a blowout loss at Milwaukee in which old pal Steve Nash, the Brooklyn coach, was ejected, while some of his "majestic and goofy'' players - Kevin Durant (33 points), Kyrie Irving (27) and Ben Simmons (five rebounds, nine assists and four points while saddled with a painful reluctance to shoot) did their thing.
That all happened again, in a way, on Thursday. Durant had 37 and Irving 39.
"It's hard to stop KD and Kyrie - almost impossible,'' Luka said, who was then asked on Bally Sports about his own big numbers.
"As long as we win,'' he said.
But the Nets are 1-4 maybe because they lack chemistry. ... while the Mavs escaped the fate of staying stuck on one win because Luka Doncic defines chemistry.
Doncic continued what seems like an inevitable climb to a someday MVP trophy by pushing the Mavs to 2-2 with his as-usual fat boxscore: In fact, it was fat before the fact: As Dallas surged to a 90-84 lead after three quarters, Doncic already had 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
And in the end? Luka recorded the 22nd 30-point triple-double of his career, breaking a tie with Wilt Chamberlain for 5th place on the NBA's all-time list by ending with 41 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists.
Luka as always masterfully involved teammates ... and sometimes Luka did it without even looking ...
Or with some sort of spin-a-roo that left the Nets bewildered ...
Really, maybe that's the difference between the Mavericks and the Nets: Brooklyn features its trio of "Reluctant Nets'' - KD, Kyrie and Simmons spent the entire offseason wondering if they liked the Nets, if the Nets liked them, and if they liked each other, and we're not sure that's all been resolved - while Dallas seems to play with the "joy'' that ex-coach Rick Carlisle used to talk about, the "joy'' that Nash suggests is lacking in Simmons' game.
And speaking of "joy'' ... The Mavericks come home now, to play the next five in a row and 10 of their next 12 at the AAC, a fine setup to make sure they themselves avoid the "goofy'' while reaching for the "majestic.''
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