Mavs vs Nets: 7:30pm CST

[SMC0007]

Nets put their 8 game win streak on the line against the "who knows what the hell you're gonna get Mavs"

No Durant, Harden will be more than enough of a problem.

Luka will strap the team on his back once again and see if he can carry us back to .500.

Good luck with your bottoms.

Go Mamwicks.

Edit: No Kylie apparently

[Dallas41]

The team takes center stage on Saturday evening as they travel to face the Brooklyn Nets in the ABC game of the week. Brooklyn has won eight straight and currently sits second in the Eastern Conference. They will be without one of their three stars, but stopping James Harden and Kyrie Irving will be difficult.

The Nets ruled out Kevin Durant (hamstring) through the All-Star break.

The Dallas Mavericks have broken out of their early-season funk to win six of their last eight games. They have a top-five offensive rating in February, but there have been defensive issues. Dallas ranks 26th in defensive rating at 118.3. They are 1.4 points per 100 possessions behind being in 25th. The defense has been ugly.

The Nets have won eight straight and have scored 110-plus in six of those contests.

Kristaps Porzingis is set to return against the Nets. He will start at the five and matchup on DeAndre Jordan, which should be advantage Dallas. Defending Jordan keeps KP near the paint and should allow him plenty of opportunities to protect the rim.

The rest of the matchups will be extremely interesting. Normally, Josh Richardson guards the opposition’s primary ball-handler with Dorian Finney-Smith taking on the top scorer. In this case, Harden is the de facto point guard with Irving playing off the ball. Expect coach Carlisle to use Richardson on Irving because of his quickness. Doe-Doe has held his own against Harden in previous matchups too.

The Mavericks will use Maxi Kleber on Bruce Brown. Expect the 6’4 guard to set plenty of screens and be involved in the pick and roll.

[Dallas41]

I didn't see this thread (my bad)

Have a mod delete my GDT post so we don't have two running

[Heezzi]

Kyrie isn't playing.

[EricaLubarsky]

No Kyrie, Durant, or Dinwiddie

KP is probable

[SMC0007]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we get the W tonight.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we get the W tonight.

On one hand we’re mediocre

On the other hand Harden is our b$&£¥

[BPo001]

Good start!

[BPo001]

Luka’s gotta cool it with the step back 3’s when there’s still time on the shot clock.

[NeedlesKane]

It's my birthday today. Time to see my man KP lead our Mavs to victory!

[NeedlesKane]

When Harden retires do you think you'll remember him as a member of the Thunder, Rockets, Nets, or another team?

[BPo001]

Porzingis wtf???

[Stylistic]

Originally Posted by BPo001

Porzingis wtf???

I was enraged at that shot. Why does he feel he need to shoot that?

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by Stylistic

I was enraged at that shot. Why does he feel he need to shoot that?

If the shot clock is under 7 than sure, but there was 19 seconds on the shot clock. Why the fuck would you pull up from the logo?

[tgfan]

This game should be a dunk fest for KP, but the Mavs are not disciplined enough.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by tgfan

This game should be a dunk fest for KP, but the Mavs are not disciplined enough.

In fairness to KP

He was upset a couple of times because he did post up and they didn't even pass him the ball

THJ did it once and Luka followed up right afterwards....

I saw the look KP gave THJ it was like dude seriously

But he has posted up a lot today and mixed up his game.

[tgfan]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

In fairness to KP

He was upset a couple of times because he did post up and they didn't even pass him the ball

THJ did it once and Luka followed up right afterwards....

I saw the look KP gave THJ it was like dude seriously

But he has posted up a lot today and mixed up his game.

Yes, he has gotten some great short jumpers. And my comment was not so much against KP as it was for the whole team.

[tgfan]

Way to be, KP!

[NeedlesKane]

Who is this guy, DFS? I'm liking what I'm seeing from him.

[Stylistic]

How does Harden continue to not get called for offensive fouls when he pushes off with his off arm when he drives to the basket?

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by NeedlesKane

Who is this guy, DFS? I'm liking what I'm seeing from him.

Yea. Problem is you won't mention his name again for 3 weeks or so.

[NeedlesKane]

Originally Posted by Stylistic

How does Harden continue to not get called for offensive fouls when he pushes off with his off arm when he drives to the basket?

His belly restricts the refs' view of what he is doing.

[SMC0007]

James Harden gets so many bs fouls and the refs are constantly fooled. It's pathetic. Good on him for converting his FTs though... unlike Doncic.

[Stylistic]

I was about to say Dallas needs to increase this lead with Harden on the bench.

[SMC0007]

I could listen to Jeff Van Gundy commentate every game. He's great and I don't care who you are.

[Dallas41]

Looks like that rest did KP some good

He was moving pretty darn good tonight all over the floor.

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

I could listen to Jeff Van Gundy commentate every game. He's great and I don't care who you are.

Agreed. He speaks the truth and isn’t afraid to say what he feels.

[Dallas41]

100% agree with Mark Jackson

Moving forward KP has to get his touches early in the game. He needs to be involved often in set plays and the Mavs juts can't let Luka dominate the ball.

KP showed he can pass out of the post even if the shot isn't there. So you can run some offense through him.

[NeedlesKane]

Is the interviewer asking Luka anything? I'm not hearing a single word.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by BPo001

Agreed. He speaks the truth and isn’t afraid to say what he feels.

Yea. I love that dude for that exact reason. Pretty funny too

[BigDog63]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

100% agree with Mark Jackson

Moving forward KP has to get his touches early in the game. He needs to be involved often in set plays and the Mavs juts can't let Luka dominate the ball.

KP showed he can pass out of the post even if the shot isn't there. So you can run some offense through him.

Yep.

Is there not a 'like' feature here?

[MFFL]

Originally Posted by BigDog63

Yep.

Is there not a 'like' feature here?

Blue check mark on bottom left corner of the post

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by NeedlesKane

Is the interviewer asking Luka anything? I'm not hearing a single word.

She asked him about the comparison's to Bird

Carlisle and Cedric Maxwell both mentioned Bird when comparing Luka's game.

Luke said he hasn't played enough years yet to warrant that tag.

[NeedlesKane]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

She asked him about the comparison's to Bird

Carlisle and Cedric Maxwell both mentioned Bird when comparing Luka's game.

Luke said he hasn't played enough years yet to warrant that tag.

Thanks. Her top was distracting me.

[Dallas41]

Pretty fair review of KP tonight

It was a wild Kristaps game — so a normal Kristaps game.
Tonight was the Kristaps Porzingis experience in a nutshell.

He made the first bucket of the night, looked like he was going to have a great game, and then faded quickly. At one point, he got frustrated he didn’t get the ball on a previous possession, so he pulled up from near halfcourt with about 21 seconds left on the shot clock. After that, he kicked a chair during a timeout.

Then, seemingly all of a sudden, Porzingis started looking good again. The Mavs were (for some reason) posting him up over and over and over again. But it was... kind of working? He still made some weird decisions with the ball in his hands, but the shotmaking ability was on display.

The biggest takeaway from this Porzingis game was that he seemed to move better on defense. He was more active than he has been in recently, and that even led to him racking up a few blocks. That’s nice to see.

I suppose the other big takeaway in terms of Porzingis is that the big Mavs run in the fourth quarter happened with Porzingis on the bench. Coincidence? I don’t think so, but maybe that’s for a different story.

[dirt_dobber]

from various Mavs twitter people...

Dorian Finney-Smith, as he stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points (5-6 FG, 2-3 3FG), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and a game-high +24 rating.
This was the first time in Finney-Smith’s career that he has hit all of those benchmarks in a single game.

Harden on Luka..."(Luka) never lets anyone speed him up, and he gets what he wants.
We all know he has a very, very bright future. The Mavs got a special one." — James Harden.

9 Mavericks tally at least one steal

Mavs defense...In their last four games: Mavs defense allows
102 pts (1st in NBA). 42.7% FG (2nd) 30.8% 3pt (4th)
104.1 Def. Rating (1st)

Luka Doncic has played his final game as a 21-year-old. Here are his career stats and where they rank all-time among 21-and-unders
- 4,168 points (9th)
- 1,394 rebounds (20th)
- 1,245 assists (3rd)
- 419 3s (1st)
- 32 triple-doubles (1st)
- 164 games (T-49th)
Those numbers come out to 25.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game and a triple-double roughly every five games. Strong start to his career.

The Mavs are 2.5 games out of fifth place. Three of their next four games are against teams with losing records, and the fourth is against San Antonio, the fifth-place team. The opportunity to move up is there if they can win some games.

[MFFL]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

I suppose the other big takeaway in terms of Porzingis is that the big Mavs run in the fourth quarter happened with Porzingis on the bench. Coincidence? I don’t think so, but maybe that’s for a different story.

Harden only played 2 minutes in the 4th

I think calling any part of the 4th a run is weird considering we only scored 21 points

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by MFFL

Harden only played 2 minutes in the 4th

I think calling any part of the 4th a run is weird considering we only scored 21 points

Yea. I takeaway nothing from the secondary takeaway.