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Mavs Gameday: A Flop, Luka as MVP and on to Memphis

Mavs Gameday: A Flop against the Knicks, Luka Doncic as an MVP candidate and it's on to Memphis
Mike Fisher|
Mavs Gameday: A Flop, Luka as MVP and on to Memphis
Mavs Gameday: A Flop, Luka as MVP and on to Memphis

It's Dallas Mavericks Gameday and it comes quickly - maybe the rare time when a second night of a back-to-back is inviting because it can quickly remove the crummy feeling from what happened the night before.

The good news from Friday night? Luka Doncic continues to emerge as an NBA MVP candidate - and it's being spoken about in stunningly matter-of-fact ways.

"It’s a tough loss,'' said teammate Kristaps Porzingis, but (Doncic) is playing like he could be the MVP. He’s playing incredible so I want him to keep going and keep doing his thing. Those are the types of shots we know he can make. He could’ve gotten to a better spot but sometimes you just have to let him do his thing and maybe next time he takes that crazy shot and it goes in.”

"That crazy shot'' (from too far out and at too-early a point on the shot clock) marked one of Luka's rare failures in Friday's 106-102 home loss to the woeful Knicks. (See Matt Galatzan's game story here.) But on a night when Luka goes for a career-high 38 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists? Well, maybe he's so good that it's OK to ask for perfection.

Porzingis, by the way, finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks against his old Knicks pals, a fine "fix-it'' night ... though - again, nitpicking - a stronger fourth quarter might've made a difference here against a New York team that came in at 1-7. (More analysis below in the late-night Mavs Step Back podcast ...)

Tonight Dallas is in Memphis, with the 2-6 Grizzlies also playing on the second night of a B-2-B, having been blown out by Orlando on Friday.

Memphis features Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson and old friend Jae Crowder. Dallas features an MVP candidate, an All-Star-level sidekick ... and a 5-3 record that, based on what just happened against the Knicks, slows the roll just a little bit on the Mavs' aspirations in a couple of departments.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NBA and the Dallas Mavericks since 1990. He has for more than 20 years served as the overseer of DallasBasketball.com, the granddaddy of Mavs news websites.

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