Mavs Monday All-Star Donuts: From Kobe to Luka - With An NBA Playoffs Vibe
The All-Star Game on Sunday served a tribute to Kobe, a mini-showcase for Luka and playoff vibes for the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA contenders ... and it all adds up to be among the best All-Star Weekend ever. We explore in Mavs Donuts ...
DONUT 1: Team LeBron 157, Team Giannis 155
Team LeBron, with Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks starting, won the first quarter 53-41 courtesy of very little defense and a lot of electric plays. A couple of those came courtesy of some slick passes from Luka Dončić, but the standout of the quarter was a barrage of threes from Kawhi Leonard.
Team Giannis won the second quarter 51-30 (Devin Booker’s seven-minute run was terrible. He went 0-for-3 from three-point range, he turned the ball over three times, and he nearly turned it over a fourth time while fighting a teammate for a rebound. A player for Team Giannis touched it before Booker lost the ball out of bounds, saving him from his fourth turnover.
Meanwhile, Trae Smith ended the half with a half-court three (a cool bookend of Luka’s shot two nights before).
The third quarter was a feisty 41-41 finish that required a big comeback from Team LeBron and a tiny comeback from Team Giannis (along with some real gamesmanship by Nick Nurse, who fouled Westbrook with Team LeBron up by a point. Westbrook made 1-of-2 and Team Giannis tied up the quarter with an alley-oop with two seconds left.
Then we got to the fourth quarter. The first team to 157 would win, and team Giannis only needed 24 points to do it. Team LeBron needed 33 points to win.
I’m not remotely exaggerating when I tell you that the weird fourth quarter felt like playoff basketball. Kyle Lowry was taking charges. Guys were giving hard fouls and playing outstanding defense. Even the benches were standing the entire fourth quarter.
Is there any doubt that the late Kobe Bryant - now represented with his name on the All-Star MVP trophy - would’ve loved a finish like this one?
With the game tight at 156-155, Lowry was called for fouling Anthony Davis (pulling him down during an entry pass from LeBron) and the game was so competitive that Nurse challenged the call. The call was upheld, Davis went to the line needing to make only 1-of-2 free throws. The Chicago native missed the first but knocked down the second.
Team LeBron outscored team Giannis 33-22 in the final frame and won what might be the best All-Star game since the one where Dirk tied it up late in Dallas.
But, let’s be honest: We don’t really care whether Team LeBron got the better of Team Giannis. We just want to know how Luka held it down in his first All-Star Game.
Read on.
DONUT 2: Luka’s First All-Star Game
I wish I had better news for Mavericks fans, but the cold truth is that Luka didn’t play very much in Chicago. In fact, despite being the starting point guard for the Western Conference, he played fewer minutes (18) than injury replacement Devin Booker (19).
Luka had a couple of huge plays in the first quarter, helping to set the tone for Team LeBron. His quick and accurate full-court outlet passes led to a couple of early easy buckets. It did take Luka until the third quarter to get a three. Then he hit back-to-back threes ... and got immediately offered a seat on the bench. He never returned to the game.
He finished the night going 3-of-6 from the floor. He had two three-pointers and a dunk. He added four assists, a steal, and a rebound (with no turnovers).
I wonder if Luka took it easy because he had to play in two games over the weekend and he’s still being cautious about his recent injury issues. There’s a chance that coach Frank Vogel was uncomfortable with the idea of playing Luka and risking injury to another team’s top player.
If Luka was bothered by sitting out the last quarter-and-a-half of one of the best All-Star games ever, he didn’t show it. He was up off the bench the entire fourth quarter rooting on his teammates, bemoaning questionable officiating, and celebrating the Team LeBron comeback ...
Oh. And eating popcorn.
“You always remember your first time,” said Doncic, clearly aware that at age 20, there is more All-Star excitement in his (and our) future. “It was fun out there.”
DONUT 3: Rising Stars Game
There’s so little defense in a Rising Stars game that some media members got angry at RJ Barrett for breaking up a Zion Williamson dunk. I can assure you that Luka didn’t deliver any rage-inducing hard fouls in a game filled with first and second-year players who, for the most part, weren’t really in his league yet.
He had a perfectly respectable stat line. 6-of-11 from the floor, 4-of-9 from three, 16 points, five assists, two rebounds, and a steal. He had a dunk that was so undefended that it looked like a processional. But, he also had one of the most electric plays of the game, banking in a huge three from beyond mid-court at the end of the first half.
The World team lost by 20, but Luka played well, and he didn’t roll his ankle.
DONUT 4: “I can’t jump that high!”
Sunday night offered an almost-moment.
LeBron James tried to get Luka a rim-rocking dunk in the first quarter, but the ball was a little out of Luka’s range. Luka let him know it, too, joking, “I can’t jump that high!”
But The WonderBoy did throw down a very “late-era Dirk” dunk off this pass from James Harden.
DONUT 5: Mavericks 130, Kings 111
Now, a look back ...
Luka returned from injury to lead the Mavericks to an easy victory over the Kings in Dallas in last week's final outing before the break. Dallas led pretty much start to finish. The Mavs won the first three quarters by four, seven and eight points. The Kings managed a 34-34 final frame (the most points in a quarter for both teams all night).
Although to be fair, the Mavericks had the ball with a 130-111 lead and took a 24-second violation with 2.5 seconds to go rather than taking a shot. Instead of dribbling out the clock, the Kings ran a play and got another bucket to even the frame at 34 and avoid another 20-point loss on the season.
Read the full game story here.
DONUT 6: Luka’s First Game Back
I know NBA All-Star @eekend (and its awkward affiliation with TikTok) is on everyone’s mind, so I had to lead with that. But, let’s take a moment to go back and reflect on Luka’s return from injury Wednesday night against the Kings.
I don’t know if he was full speed, but he was plenty fast to dominate Sacramento (again). Luka picked up right where he left off before the injury. He had 33 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists in 31 minutes.
Because the Mavericks blew out the Kings, Luka (wisely) sat for much of the fourth quarter - which is all that kept him from his 13th triple-double of the season.
DONUT 7: Luka and Porzingis Together Again
For two guys who need to learn to mesh together, this duo has spent a lot of games dodging one another. Luka has missed time thanks to multiple ankle sprains, and Porzingis has missed over a dozen games to extended knee soreness (and the injury management that’s followed).
During Luka’s most recent injury, Kristaps has gotten into a groove on both ends of the floor. He’s had multiple 30-point double-doubles in the last two weeks and his shot seems perfect from all over the floor. For a guy who was already consistently making the right plays on both ends of the floor, it’s scary to see what he can do when those plays are bolstered by efficient shooting numbers.
One worry, for some, is that Porzingis might regress once Luka got back- or at least become more passive. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night. He supported Luka’s near triple-double with another big night of his own. Kristaps had 27 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. You could argue that Porzingis had a better game than Luka thanks to an efficient 11-of-16 shooting and only a single turnover.
The nice thing for the Mavericks is that two guys on their team, on the same night, had the kind of numbers that win Western Conference Player of the Week honors. When you’re arguing about which fantastic performance on your team was better, the future is bright.
DONUT 8: Some Love for Seth and Tim Hardaway Jr.
There are only so many points to go around, and in that Kings game, The Unicorn and The WonderBoy ate up 60 points, 25 rebounds, and 13 assists. Every Maverick who played got on the board against the Kings (Barea and Lee were the only DNPs for the Mavericks). But, only two other Mavs scored in double-figures.
Seth Curry (18 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (19 points) combined to shoot 14-of-24. The two accounted for 37 points, six rebounds, 12 assists, a steal, and zero turnovers between the two of them. A combined 67 minutes of turnover-free basketball is almost unheard of - especially when the guys involved are handling the ball as much as Seth and Hardaway Jr. handle the ball.
It’s almost hard to believe that two guys with that kind of firepower are the third and fourth options on a very young Mavericks team. ... and at the same time, OK to wish that this roster sometime soon improves to the point where there are even better third and fourth options.
DONUT 9: Rick Carlisle Milestone Watch
With that win over the Kings, Rick Carlisle moved into a tie in two interesting categories. The first is with Gene Shue for the most wins ever by an NBA coach (both coaches are now tied for 16th with 784 wins). The other is closer to home for Mavericks fans because he’s also tied Coach Rudy Tomjanovich for most coaching wins with a single franchise. Rick now has 503 wins as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. This catches the 503 wins Tomjanovich racked up in his years with Houston.
Rick’s next win will move him up the ladder in both categories.
DONUT 10: Welcome Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
The Mavericks were quiet at the trade deadline, but they did take advantage of a Charlotte Hornets buyout of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Gilchrist was picked second overall in the 2012 draft but hasn’t lived up to the pedigree of such a high selection. (See our MKG-to-Dallas coverage - "Sic 'Em!'' - here.)
What the Mavericks are getting is an engaged defender who can cover multiple positions and a guy who can rebound the ball. What they’re not getting - at least not right away - is a guy who’s known for shooting the ball.
We’ve seen the kind of improvements guys can make with a little help from the Dallas coaches. We’ve seen Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dorian Finney-Smith make huge strides after some time in Dallas. I believe a guy with the raw talent of Kidd-Gilchrist, who’s only 26, still has plenty of time left to learn some new tricks. I’m just not sure it’ll be this season.
DONUT 11: Young Guns
Luka did this:
Then Luka and Trae did this:
Fans can keep their twitter beef. I like both of these guys and I hope they dominate the NBA for 15 years.
DONUT 12: The Final Word
