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DALLAS – Luka Doncic hasn’t had much reason to flash his contagious smile lately. He is a firm believer in the professional benefits of enjoying basketball, but it’s hard to do when his Dallas Mavericks have lost 10 of their previous 13 games, as happened when he showed up for work on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center.
Give Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry a helping hand to bring the joy back to Doncic. Even in an empty arena, there’s nothing that electrifies an NBA atmosphere like cooking curry. That was certainly the case on Saturday, with Curry going 11 of 19 at a distance of 3 points and firing a flurry of silly punches, the kind that make you laugh out loud, en route to 57 points.
Doncic gladly accepted Curry’s spectacular performance as a challenge. He responded with an outing that reminded audiences on national television why the 21-year-old started the season with the weight of MVP expectations, tying his career-high with 42 points and distributing 11 assists to lead Dallas to. a thrilling – and desperately. necessary – 134-132 victory.
“Obviously taking on Steph is fun,” Doncic said. “I have to have more fun playing the game to be who I was before. I just have to start enjoying the game again.”
If you didn’t like this game, basketball is probably not the sport for you. Or maybe you’re just a bitter soul. How else to explain not smiling when you see Curry doing an exaggerated shimmy shoulder on the half court logo after draining a transitional pull up from there? How not to appreciate the artistic beauty of the best shooter in NBA history dancing with his dribble before draining 30 feet back with a hand on his face?
“What Steph is doing is amazing,” Doncic said. “I just think every shot is going to come in when he shoots it. It’s amazing the way he plays the game, and it’s nice to watch, even if you’re on the opposing team.”
As Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of Curry, “He’s one of the guys I would pay a lot of money to watch play.”
Doncic, who only trails Curry among the guards in the early All-Star voting returns, is certainly another player to fall into that category. It’s not just Doncic’s ability to fill in the scores – he now has all six 40-point, 10-assists performances in franchise history, for example – and create some worthwhile highlights. to buy a ticket or at least turn on the television to watch. He’s an artist with a rare flair at the moment, something he has in common with the NBA legends that Carlisle has watched closely before.
“The basketball court is his stage,” Carlisle said of Doncic. “Guys like him – and I was there [Larry] Bird; I was with Reggie Miller – when there’s another guy on the other team who elevates his game to the level of Curry, you feel an obligation if you’re that kind of player. I saw Bird do it; I saw Miller do it.
“You dig deeper. You find a way to try and match the guy and try to match the guy on your team. And that’s exactly what he did.
Doncic never allowed Curry to take complete control of the game. There were certainly times when Curry was unstoppable, but Doncic kept responding. Case in point: The last 90 seconds of the second quarter, when Curry topped his half with 30 points with a cup layup and some long 3’s and Doncic made a 3 sandwiched by a pair of pretty floats, giving at the Mavs an eight-point lead at the break.
Doncic, one of the league’s lowest-percentage, high-volume long-range gunners, shot like a Splash Brother on Saturday night. He was 7 out of 12 at 3 points. And it improved as the stakes rose, hitting a 3 of 5 3 in the fourth quarter as the Mavs kept the Warriors at bay, the larger one giving Dallas a seven-point lead with 44.5 seconds. to play.
“His eyes lit up a bit,” said Curry. “He hit hard tonight.”
Of course, a seven-point lead isn’t sure with Curry in sizzle mode. Curry reduced the Mavs’ advantage to four seconds later by knocking down a 3 on a flow from Draymond Green (a point cross who had his second straight 15-assist performance and who also it’s a pleasure to watch). Then all of a sudden it was a one-point game, after Curry danced and rushed into the lane for an and-1 layup with 28.6 seconds left.
Imagine the pressure the Mavs felt at that point, having lost 12 straight games with one possession, the third longest such streak in NBA history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
This streak, it should be noted, only included regular season games. You probably remember Doncic put the exclamation marks on a playoff masterpiece by hitting a step back 3 to beat the overtime buzzer in Dallas’ Game 4 win over the Clippers this season. last. Doncic had a 43-point triple-double that night, when he was doubtful due to a sprained ankle suffered some 36 hours earlier; it was a performance that removed any doubt that the youngster was part of the discussion about the best in the league.
Back at the crunch on Saturday night, the Warriors decided they weren’t going to let Doncic seal this game by scoring, sending him a double team 30 feet from the hoop as the shot clock slowed down. Doncic accepted this challenge by taking advantage of the tactics, delivering a rebound pass to Maxi Kleber, who was left alone in the corner and hit the dagger 3.
“He’s just very polite,” Curry said, rocking his hat to Doncic. “He’s shown it since his first year, and he’s improved. And who knows how bad the cap is for him?”
It will be fun to find out.
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