Tag: Luka Doncic

NBA Twitter reacts to Mavs-Clippers Game 2 thriller: ‘Luka won the game defensively’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Mavericks tying up the series against the Clippers.

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks have tied the series 1-1 against the Los Angeles Clippers after their Game 2 96-93 win in a tight battle.

Doncic led the way for the Mavs with 32 points and nine assists, while Kyrie Irving also added 23.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Dallas tying the series and Doncic’s dagger in the final minutes.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named a finalist for 2023-24 MVP award

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nominated for 2023-24 MVP award.

The NBA announced its award finalists for the 2023-24 season on Sunday. The Oklahoma City Thunder had several representatives among the groups.

The biggest one is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP finalist nod. This shouldn’t be a shocker. The 25-year-old has been the face of the youngest first seed in league history.

Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the best players in the league this season, consistently scoring 30-plus points on high efficiency.

After finishing fifth in MVP voting last season, Gilgeous-Alexander has evolved into one of the best players in the league. He averaged 30.1 points on 53.5% shooting, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 75 games this season.

Other finalists are Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic. The 2023-24 MVP winner will be announced during the NBA playoffs, Gilgeous-Alexander was also named a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year along with Stephen Curry and DeMar DeRozan.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and Chet Holmgren were named finalists for Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively.

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NBA playoff predictions: Ranking the Top 16 players for the 2024 postseason

HoopsHype predicts the 16 best players for the upcoming 2024 NBA playoffs, featuring Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

It’s here, the moment basketball fans all over the world have been waiting for: the 2024 NBA playoffs.

Today, we’re going to take a shot at predicting who the best players in the 2024 postseason will be. To do so, we weighed in how well we expect them to play, how far we expect their teams to go and how healthy we expect these players to be.

(A few superstars got docked quite a few spots for entering postseason play with a poor bill of health.)

With all those things considered, this was no easy exercise. Check out the results below.

Amar’e Stoudemire on if LeBron James’ scoring record can be broken

Does former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire think LeBron James’ NBA points record can be broken, and if so, which active player could do it?

For many years, it was thought Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time NBA record of 38,387 career points would never be broken. He became the league’s all-time leading scorer in 1984 when he surpassed Wilt Chamberlain, and his record stood for decades.

But LeBron James’ incredible longevity allowed him to get past Abdul-Jabbar in that category, and he now has 40,352 career regular season points — and counting.

Now the question is whether anyone will surpass him in career points someday, especially given that he’s expected to play at least another year or two and is still performing at an elite or near-elite level.

Former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire was asked that question by Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, and he said Luka Doncic and possibly Kevin Durant could challenge James’ mark.

Doncic has averaged over 27 points a game in each of the last five seasons, and this year, he’s leading the NBA with 33.9 points per game. He turned 25 years of age just over a month ago, yet he already has over 11,000 points to his name.

Durant, who is 35, is closing in on 29,000 career points. However, he will likely have to play into his early 40s to have a shot at surpassing James.

Perhaps the one who will break James’ career scoring record is either playing basketball on some elementary school playground these days, wearing diapers or hasn’t even been born yet.

Mavs star Luka Doncic beats out Houston’s Jalen Green for March Player of the Month

After a 13-2 month by the Rockets, Jalen Green was a West Player of the Month nominee in March. The award, however, went to Dallas’ Luka Doncic.

Led by an efficient 47 points from perennial All-Star guard and MVP candidate Luka Doncic, the red-hot Dallas Mavericks ended the month of March with Sunday’s statement win at Houston, snapping an 11-game win streak for the Rockets.

In addition to the impact on the standings and potential postseason implications in the Western Conference, that performance may also have decided the West’s Player of the Month award for that month.

Despite a brilliant month of March that led to Green being a nominee for the award, Doncic received it, according to the NBA’s announcement on Tuesday.

Here’s a look at the monthly statistics for both players:

  • Doncic: (14 games): 32.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 4.3 turnovers per game; 47.0% FG, 38.1% on 3-pointers, plus 6.4 plus/minus
  • Green (15 games): 27.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.3 turnovers per game; 49.2% FG, 40.8% on 3-pointers, plus 11.3 plus/minus

The Mavs went 11-4 in the month, while the Rockets were 13-2.

As for individual recognition, Green received the first Player of the Week award of his three-year NBA career in mid-March. So, it’s not as if he leaves the month empty handed.

Doncic and Green will do battle once more this season when Houston visits Dallas on Sunday. Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m. Central.

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Luka Doncic made a 21-foot underhand shot and it wasn’t his most ridiculous shot of the night

What made Luka Doncic even attempt either of these shots?!

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic was basically playing an entirely different sport than everyone else on Sunday night.

Doncic recorded 47 points in a much-needed victory over the Houston Rockets. He also added 12 rebounds and seven assists while shooting 9-of-16 on his 3-pointers. It was a dominant performance from Doncic, who is in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign for Dallas.

While the stats were impressive during this outing for the Mavericks star, nothing was as memorable as the ridiculous finger roll that he took in the third quarter. Leading by more than 20 points, Doncic decided to get a bit creative.

Doncic somehow decided to have the courage to attempt an underhanded finger roll from 21 feet away from the basket.

Usually those kind of looks are reserved for layups and floater range but he thought it would work from near the 3-point line. Somehow, he was right.

What is most unbelievable, though, is that this wasn’t even the most absurd attempt that Doncic made that night.

 

Although it was the most audacious that he tried during game action, he had a trick shot before the game that was even harder to process.

Before tipoff, he threw the ball off the scoreboard for a shot that somehow landed perfectly in the hoop. It made absolutely no sense and it was such a joy to watch.

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‘That’s Luka’: As postseason path narrows, Rockets seek better blueprint to defend Doncic, Mavs

“Because of his size and passing ability, he can kind of pick apart the gym,” Ime Udoka said of defending Luka Doncic. “We want to guard one-on-one.”

HOUSTON — With 11 straight wins, the Rockets entered Sunday as the NBA’s hottest team. With that streak in mind, an opponent likely needed to have phenomenal players to beat them.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, the Dallas Mavericks have two: Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. That dynamic duo took turns imposing their will and displaying their incredible shooting ability, ending Houston’s win streak with a 125-107 victory inside Toyota Center.

Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer who averages 34 points per game, came out on fire in the first quarter, which was probably to be expected after he hit an incredible shot off the scoreboard during warmups. His 22 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range helped the Mavericks take a 36-24 at the end of the first period.

“As our leader, he came out and set the tone offensively,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said postgame.

It didn’t matter if rookie Amen Thompson or second-year forward Jabari Smith was in front of Doncic; he hit everything he threw up, including an underhanded 21-foot shot that brought Dallas fans in attendance to their feet. Many local fans looked amazed.

“We have been lucky enough to be around him for three years,” Kidd said postgame of Doncic. “We have seen him kick the ball in. We have seen him shoot from half-court, full court, sitting in a chair. So to see him do that, I think a lot of people got excited.”

“But at the same time, we said, ‘That’s Luka.’” He is always able to make tough shots. He is Picasso. Give him the paintbrush; he’s going to do something special. That shot was pretty special.”

Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving echoed his head coach regarding Doncic’s style of play and how it opens the floor for his teammates. The rest of the Dallas players shot 50% from 3-point range, while Doncic shot 56% from beyond the arc.

“When he is that efficient and aggressive, it will open up a lot of opportunities for us,” said Irving, who finished with 24 points.

Rockets head coach Ime Udoka may be an art lover, but he would rather see masterpieces on canvas than from an opposing player. Udoka used a switching style on defense throughout the game, which led to Doncic scoring 47 points through three quarters.

“Because of his size and passing ability, he can kind of pick apart the gym,” Udoka said of the defensive strategy. “We want to guard one-on-one and force him into tougher shots. That was the objective.”

“But I think we were kind of back on our heels and made it a little bit too easy early,” Udoka said. “Just walk-up shots: I felt like he had 20 or more in the first quarter and didn’t really have to work for it. So, you want to take him inside of the 3-point line and make it a little bit harder. When he did, we didn’t show a lot of resistance.”

It remains to be seen whether Udoka will switch strategies when the Rockets (38-36) visit Dallas (45-29) next Sunday. With postseason hopes hanging by a thread, Houston’s margin for error is minimal.

Houston trails Golden State (40-34) by two games with eight to play for the final postseason spot in the Western Conference, and the Warriors own any tiebreaker, as well. Thus, the Rockets need to outplay Golden State by at least three games over this closing stretch, which makes the rematch in Dallas very important to Houston.

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Jalen Williams explains why he brings energy and interacts with fans, crowd

Jalen Williams explains why he brings energy and interacts with fans, crowd.

As Cason Wallace collected a missed 3-pointer, Jalen Williams found a lane and sprinted toward the basket for the vicious one-hand slam that served as the dagger on Thursday night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 126-119 win over the Dallas Mavericks resembled a playoff atmosphere. A national TV audience gained a glimpse at the homecourt advantage fans usually produce for OKC.

“Definitely felt like a playoff atmosphere, our crowd’s been really good this year,” Williams said. “That was dope. It was definitely a competitive game. You can kinda feel the tension these last 15, 16 games. I think everybody’s trying to settle into a spot, so a lot of these games are gonna feel like that.

“That’s always good to have these reps before getting into the playoffs and it definitely felt like one of the most competitive games of this year.”

In his return from a one-game absence, Williams scored 27 points and had three blocks. His impact was felt immediately; he was the Thunder’s second-best player in their impressive win.

As he has all season, Williams embraced the crowd’s excitement, cheering them on after massive plays. The second-chance basket was one of the more animated reactions from him. When asked about his energy, he said he tries to make every game a memorable experience for fans.

”We have really good fans here and I like being here,” Williams said. “It’s always fun to just be able to interact. Sam Presti made a good point to us just talking about how you don’t know what people are going through to be able to get to the games and stuff like that.

“I think anytime you can kinda engage with the fans during the game, I think it kinda leaves everybody with a cool impression of the game. You don’t know whose first game it is or what the circumstances might be for people coming here, so anytime I can interact with fans, I think it’s really fun.”

This is a thoughtful mindset for Williams, who continues to be the Thunder’s lead energy guy. As OKC continues to ascend, there will be plenty of chances for the 22-year-old to create more moments like his game-sealing jam against the Mavericks.

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Full injury report for Thursday’s Mavericks vs. Thunder matchup

Full injury report for Thursday’s Mavericks vs. Thunder matchup.

The Oklahoma City Thunder finish a four-game homestand when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday for a national television game. It’ll be the penultimate matchup between the two squads; each has one win in the season series.

The Thunder (45-20) welcome back Jalen Williams from a one-game absence due to an ankle sprain.

Ousmane Dieng (G League assignment), Keyontae Johnson (G League two-way), Olivier Sarr (G League two-way) and Adam Flagler (G League two-way) are out.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks (38-28) will be without Luka Doncic (hamstring soreness), who suffered the injury late in their win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

Brandon Williams (wrist sprain), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (G League assignment), Greg Brown III (G League two-way) and Alex Fudge (G League two-way) are also out.

In their last contest, the Thunder struggled to make up for Williams’ absence in their loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers dictated the pace and scored 73 points inside of the paint against OKC.

Last time out, Dallas scored 146 points and blew out OKC with its new trade deadline acquisitions on Feb. 10.

Tip off from Oklahoma City is set for 9 p.m. CT.

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Bulls were ‘humiliated’ by Luka Doncic in loss to Mavericks

Luka Doncic “humiliated” the Chicago Bulls in their 127-92 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

It’s been a weird season for the Chicago Bulls. While an ugly start didn’t give fans much hope for a fruitful season, the Bulls are still firmly in the Play-In race, and they’ll almost assuredly be in the 9/10 game. They’ve been sneakily solid ever since their rough start, yet they still don’t have the talent to compete with the top teams around the league.

That last point was evidently clear on Monday night, as the Bulls suffered a blowout loss at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Former Bull Daniel Gafford and rookie big man Dereck Lively II played well, but it was ultimately the play of superstar guard Luka Doncic that caused Chicago’s demise.

The CHGO Sports YouTube channel discussed the game and how the Bulls were “humiliated” by Doncic in the 127-92 loss.

Doncic finished the game with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 14 assists while shooting 9-of-23 from the field and 6-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc.

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