DALLAS – Luka Doncic has not had much reason to freshen up his infectious smile lately. He firmly believes in enjoying the professional benefits of basketball, but that’s hard to do when she lost to the Dallas Mavericks ten of their previous 13 games, as was the case when he reported for work at the American Airlines Center on Saturday night.
Give Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry a helping hand in bringing back Doncic’s joy. Even in an empty arena, an NBA atmosphere does not electrify anything like Curry cooking. That was certainly the case on Saturday, with Curry reaching 11-out-19 from three points and swinging a wave of silly shots, the kind that makes you tickle aloud, en route to 57 points.
Doncic accepts Curry’s spectacular performance as a challenge. He responded with an outing that reminded a national television audience why this 21-year-old entered the season with the weight of MVP expectations, which tied his career with 42 points and gave Dallas 11 points to a exciting – and desperation – to lead. needed – 134-132 won.
“Of course it’s nice to go against Steph,” Doncic said. “I need to have more fun playing the game to be who I was before. I just need to enjoy the game again.”
If you did not enjoy Saturday’s game, basketball is probably not the sport for you. Or maybe you’re just a bitter soul. How else to explain that you do not smile when you see Curry doing an exaggerated shoulder on the halfway logo after he has tapped a transition shot from there? How can you not appreciate the artistic beauty of the best shooter in NBA history dancing with his dribble before draining the 30-foot pedestrians with a hand in his face?
“What Steph is doing is something incredible,” Doncic said. “I just think every shot is going to go in when he shoots it. It’s amazing how he plays the game, and it’s fun to watch, even if you’re in the opposing team.”
As Rick Carlisle, coach of Mavs, said of Curry: “He’s one of the guys I’ll pay a lot of money to see play.
Doncic, who only follows Curry among the guards in the All-Star who votes early returns, is definitely another player who fits into that category. It’s not just Doncic’s ability to top the scores – he now has all six 40-point-10 auxiliary performances in franchise history, for example – and creating highlights that make him worth a ticket. buy or at least watch the TV on. He’s currently an entertainer with a rare flair, something he has in common with NBA legends that Carlisle has taken a closer look at before.
“The basketball floor is his stage,” Carlisle said of Doncic. ‘Guys like him – and I was there [Larry] Bird; I was with Reggie Miller – if there’s another guy in the other team who raises his game to the level that Curry was, you feel an obligation if you’re such a player. I saw Bird do it; I saw Miller do it.
“You just dig deeper. You find a way to try to fit the man and fit the man to your team. And that’s exactly what he did.”
Doncic never allowed Curry to take full control of the game. There were definitely pieces when Curry was unstoppable, but Doncic kept reacting. Case in point: the last 90 seconds of the second quarter, when Curry finished his 30-point half with a cut-off and some long 3s, and Doncic a try pushed in by some nice drivers, swung, giving the Mavs an eight-point lead at halftime.
Doncic, one of the league’s lowest percentage of long-range shooters, shot like a Splash Brother on Saturday night. He was 7-out-12 from three-point series. And he got better as the game got higher, and he hit 3 of 5 3s in the fourth quarter as the Mavs kept the Warriors at a distance, giving Dallas the biggest seven-point lead with 44 points. 5 seconds left.
“His eyes lit up a little,” Curry said. “He made some big shots tonight.”
Of course, a seven-point lead is not safe with Curry in sizzle mode. Curry reduced the Mavs’ lead to four points just seconds later by hitting a 3-pointer from Draymond Green (a points center who had his second consecutive 15-yard touchdown run). also is a pleasure to watch). Then, all of a sudden, it was a one-point game, after Curry danced and dived into the lane for an one-on-one shootout with 28.6 seconds left.
Imagine the pressure the Mavs experienced at that moment, after losing 12 consecutive singles games, according to Elias Sports Bureau, the third longest series in NBA history.
It is worth noting that the series only includes games in the regular season. You may recall that Doncic put the exclamation mark on a playoff masterpiece by hitting a fullback 3 to beat the overtime buzzer in Dallas’ Game 4 win over the LA Clippers last season. Doncic had a triple-double double of 43 points that night, when he was doubtful due to a sprained ankle suffered about 36 hours earlier; it was a show that dispelled the doubt that the youngster belonged in the discussion of the best of the league.
Back after the tough time Saturday night, the Warriors decide they will not allow Doncic to score the game, sending a double on him 30 yards from the ring while the shot clock ticks down. Doncic accepted the challenge by using the tactic and giving a rebound to Maxi Kleber, who was left alone in the corner and hit the dagger 3.
“He’s just been polished a lot,” Curry said, twisting his hat for Doncic. “He’s been showing it since his freshman year, and he’s getting better. And who knows how high the ceiling is for him?”
It will be fun to find out.