Luka Doncic probably wouldn’t say that. But by all indications, he was determined to make a statement on Saturday night.
After Memphis MVP candidate Ja Morant scored 49 points against Houston on Friday, it was Luca’s turn to hit the ball on Saturday.
In a home opener that had so many electric elements, Doncic responded with a spectacular evening. He scored or assisted his first 20 points for the Mavericks as they built his 14-point lead, and the Americans’ first loss of the season to the Grizzlies in his 137-96 at center. and never looked back.
The Grizzlies had no answer for Doncic, who had 32 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. By the way, he didn’t play in the fourth quarter when the Mavericks could have done the basketball equivalent of getting on their knees.
But it was Doncic’s way of doing things that impressed me the most. In the first quarter, when the Mavericks basically hid the game in his hip pocket, he was a monster.
He overwhelmed the Grizzlies as the Mavericks won four in a row. Last year, his three wins in which Luca played totaled 48 points.
This was practically blown off the jumping ball.
The Grizzlies went 2-1, and the Mavericks got their first win of the season after losing their season opener in Phoenix.
Morant was averaging 41.5 points over the first two games, including a 49-point blowout in Friday’s win over Houston. Perhaps the tank was somewhat less than full on Saturday after that show.
Or maybe Luke was very ambitious.
“I thought it was a carryover from the previous game,” said coach Jason Kidd. “The players paid attention to the details we discussed and learned from our mistakes that happened during the season.
“And Luca and they set the tone in the first quarter with a paint touch. I think we have reached
“He’s playing the game on another level now.”
And he had help. The Mavericks scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds from Christian Wood as he scored two quality games in a row.
But this was Luka’s party. Evidence was on display early on in Doncic. He moved in the back in the first quarter, defended by Morant to the groans from the sold-out crowd.
This was one of many plays that led to his 21st-quarter scoring. And early in the second quarter, the Mavericks extended their lead to 47-22 when Luca caught his breath.
“I don’t know if it was extra juice or the way he plays. I’m going for 20 in the quarter,” Wood said. “Maybe he was perking up on his feet, maybe that’s normal. I hope so. But it was fun.”
In fact, it didn’t matter if Morant had anything to do with being in the building. Luca said he made it a point to get a faster start.
“It’s important to get off to a good start,” he said. “Some games last year didn’t get off to a good start in the playoffs. That’s why we want to improve on that this year.”
Late in the first half, as the Grizzlies were trying to move forward, Doncic hit Javert McGee with a laser pass down the basket for a jam and a 51-30 lead.
The Mavericks limited Memphis’ shots to 32.4% in the first half. At that point, the game was all but decided. Kidd conceded Doncic’s defense.
“I can talk about his offense, but I thought his defense was great tonight and one of the best defensive performances I’ve seen.”
Luca had a pair of blocks and a pair of steals on top of his ridiculously aggressive night.
Both Morant and Doncic are legitimate MVP candidates. But it was Luca who qualified this night, and while the Grizzlies couldn’t slow him down, the Mavericks had two of them waiting for him wherever Morant turned. seemed to have a defender.
And the only reason Luca’s numbers didn’t get any more outrageous is that Memphis started sending two defenders to him every time he touched the ball.
sometimes three.
Still, the Mavericks were leading 66-36 when he scored the first bucket of the third quarter, and when they squandered a 22-point lead, it was clear that they would repeat the season opener in Phoenix on Wednesday. There was not.
The Grizzlies couldn’t get closer than 20 points in the second half.
“We stressed that at halftime,” said Wood. “We took a 20-point lead in Phoenix. We didn’t want it again. Mentally, it was great today.”
And by the fourth, Kidd had emptied the bench. As in last year’s home opener, he played all active players. His October last year was due to his intention to make everyone feel like they contributed to the win. This happened organically.
Twitter: @ESefko
