LISTEN: Mavs Barely Escape Pistons; Luka Doncic MVP Case Grows
With all due respect to Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum — all of whom have had amazing performances for their respective teams — no player epitomizes the title of “Most Valuable Player” like Luka Doncic does.
This was on full display yet again on Monday night, as it took 53 points from Doncic on 17-24 shooting for the Dallas Mavericks to barely squeak by the league-worst Detroit Pistons. Doncic also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists in 36 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie was the only other Maverick to reach double-digit scoring with 12 points.
Dallas likely needs to stack up more wins in these final 30 games to give Doncic a legitimate chance of sitting at the top of the MVP rankings in the eyes of the national media, but if we’re just going by the definition alone, no other player is more valuable to his team than Doncic is to the Mavs.
The Mavs know they need to get their four-time All-Star more consistent help, but there’s limited means of doing so before the Feb. 9 trade deadline. However, as we found out around this time last year, GM Nico Harrison is more than capable of pulling some unexpected moves out of his hat.
On today’s episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, we recap the Mavs’ win over the Pistons, talk about Doncic’s MVP case, take a look at the grueling five-game road trip coming up after Thursday’s home game against a New Orleans Pelicans team that has lost eight consecutive games, give thoughts on the latest NBA trade rumors involving Dorian Finney-Smith, and much more!
You can listen to the entire episode here:
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