If you like watching three quarters of fun basketball and one quarter of suffering, only to come out with a disappointing defeat by the Mavericks, then this game was for you! Final score: Blazers 125, Mavs 119.
The game started out the way you would expect it to happen on Friday night between these two teams. It was all offensive, all the time – a classic shooting. Luka Doncic would come to the Mavs, make a move that would lead to an open three and then Damian Lillard would come and do the same. It just looked like the Mavs were doing better. This stopped when it was time for the squeeze, however. The Blazers seemed to be the team that wanted more and, in the end, Dallas was unable to get back to the top.
Here are four things of the loss. Let’s alternate between the bad and the good.
Kristaps Porzingis was bad. Like, really bad.
Look, my thoughts on Kristaps Porzingis are well-documented. To put it simply, I’m not a fan. But I love the Mavs, so for the sake of the team, I always want him to perform well. Tonight, he reminded me why it is so easy not to be a fan.
In the first half, he was terrible. He made bad moves and seemed not to be engaged in defense. He didn’t look like a guy with a maximum contract who should be Luka’s superqualified helper. Missing photos is one thing, but missing bad shots is another. It was difficult to watch.
In the second half, some of his shots started to come in, but he still looked bad – especially in the small things in the final stretch, such as rebound and quick rotation in defense.
If you are in the field who believe that Mavs should trade Porzingis, tonight’s tape is a good one to put in your portfolio.
Luka’s magic show
Luka Doncic ended the game tonight with another incredible line of statistics. He made 38 points from 15 of 27 field shots to go along with nine assists and nine rebounds. But how he got those numbers is the most impressive. He was a one-man magic act.
I mean, look at this pass:
Honestly, I thought my TV was defective. It didn’t seem possible, and I’m still not sure if it was.
The magic passes did not stop with that penny from the second quarter. In the third quarter, he hit Maxi Kleber with a (somewhat accurate) no-looker that will rival any pass this season.
Thanks to the way it ended, this game was not much fun. But thanks to Luka, at least we have some positive memories to leave.
A frightening collapse, foreshadowing the end of the game
The last part of the fourth period of tonight’s game was a good example of what will probably happen in the playoffs (if the Mavs are lucky enough to get there). Dallas may survive spikes in bad teams that are thinking about the lottery, but against guys like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, this is not going to work.
There was no specific move in which the Mavs failed that led to their demise. It was a big extension of little mistake after little mistake after little mistake. Things like not fighting boxing, not playing in team defense and shooting crucial objects. These are the things that need to be resolved in the regular season, or there will be no success in the playoffs.
RPG players Mavs to have to step up when the game is most important. Luka cannot do everything.
Josh Richardson working hard
Josh Richardson was horrible in the attack tonight. He missed the shots, turned it around and really looked like he didn’t know how to dribble. But I’m giving him a pass because he was Working (like, WORKING) at the defensive end of the court all night.
He was tasked with the almost impossible task of protecting Lillard, and he really did an individual job as good as could be expected. Lillard still had a good night, but it was not thanks to his main defender’s lack of effort.
Richardson was touting Lillard on each screen, raising his hands, deflecting passes, putting on Lillard’s shirt and smearing pick-and-roll. Basically, he did everything you can do.
The box score won’t look good to Richardson, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.