Never, ever, doubt the Slovenian Savior. After a slow start to the season, Luka Doncic is back to his MVP form. Over the past 5 games, he’s averaging 36.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 8 rebounds per game, while shooting 53% from the field, and 47% from deep. Not to mention he set his career high in points with 46 against the Pelicans, and he had 44 against the Trailblazers.
I was able to watch the game against the Blazers, and let me tell you, Luka looked unstoppable. He was getting anything he wanted; three pointers, drives to the basket, post-scores, and he got to the the free throw line, going 11-12 from the charity stripe. Late in the fourth quarter Luka was able to lead a comeback for the Mavs. Dallas was down to Portland by 13 points, and the Mavs came storming back, with Luka of course leading the way.
It was a tied game with 35 seconds left, and then it was Dame Time. With the shot clock running down, Damian Lillard had the ball in his hands and hit another clutch bucket with a top of the key 3. The Mavericks had a chance to tie it up, and Luka got a really good, uncontested look from the left wing, but it was off. There was some extra time on the clock, and a referee review of the last play, but ultimately the Blazers just dribbled out the clock, and the Battle of the Titans came to a close.
It has been rough for Luka and the Mavs this season, going just 13-15 on the year. A lot of their losses have been in really close games too. 3 point loss against the Blazers, 1 point loss to the Suns, 4 point loss to the Nuggets, 3 point loss to the Bucks, and so on. I’m not really sure what the issue has been, outside of Kristaps not being healthy until recently. It might be that they don’t have a secondary ball-handler to relieve some of the pressure on Luka, but Luka hasn’t demonstrated that he can play off the ball. It could be that the Mavs just don’t have enough defense, but looking at their roster and guys like Josh Richardson, KP, James Johnson, and Tim Hardaway Jr, they have the potential to be a good offensive and defensive team. Maybe this just isn’t the year. Losing Seth Curry in a trade to the 76ers, at the time, didn’t seem like that big of a loss, but maybe I was wrong.
Luka Doncic is obviously a phenom on the basketball court. He’s been able to do so many things, at just 21 years old, that grizzled veterans could only hope to achieve. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that in 15 years we’re talking about Luka as one of the 5 best players of all-time. I know that is a lot of praise for someone who hasn’t been to the Finals yet, but I think that is part of the story. We all know LeBron didn’t win a Finals until his 9th year in the league. Yes, he did make it to the Finals in his 4th year in the league, but even going into that series, not many people outside of Ohio thought the Cavs would win, and they didn’t.
I think that Luka and the Mavs are going to have to take their lumps this year. It doesn’t seem like there is any move that they can make, unless it’s for Bradley Beal, that would propel them into the next level of winning basketball. They might not even be able to win next year, depending on the health of the roster. So maybe this is just the couple of years that the Mavs and Luka are going to lose, but it’ll be for character development’s sake. Then, when Luka has been in the league for 7+ years, that’s when he’ll start competing for championships.
The thing I love the most about Luka is how much he cares. You can tell when the Mavs lose that Luka takes it to heart. He knows that he’s the reason this team goes, so a lot of the blame and praise falls on him. He wants to win, and if he doesn’t, it hurts him. Some of the best basketball players of all-time LOVE basketball. It is what they eat, sleep, and breathe. Luka is going to be in this league for a very long time, and I think that it is only a matter of team before he starts to really take over the league.
Round The Game 
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