Mavs Tanking and Scrubs Stat Padding- Easter Was a Disaster for the NBA

We went into Easter with several playoff seedings still up for grabs, and what should have been one of the most exciting days of the NBA season turned into a slop-fest of tanking, scrubs having career games, and literal physical infighting. 

Bones Hyland tried to fight Mason Plumlee.

Rudy Gobert tried to fight Kyle Anderson. 

And Jaden McDaniels lost a fight to a wall. 

Not exactly great vibes for the Clippers and the Timberwolves heading into the Western Conference playoffs.

Let’s get into some of these hilarious stat lines from game 82:

• Six point-per-game scorer Payton Pritchard having a 30-point triple-double

• 20-9-9 for Mac McClung, who struggled to even stay on a roster this year

• 46 for Cam Thomas, and yes I know he’s been going off since the Nets shipped Kyrie out, but FORTY SIX?

• 24 for Udonis Haslem, who broke Kareem’s 30+ year old record for oldest player to score 20

• 21 and 19 for Dominick Barlow. Who is Dominick Barlow?

• A triple-double for Theo Pinson, whose career averages are 2-1-1.

• 42 and 14 for Kenneth Lofton Jr, whose previous career high was 11.

• You had a Triple-double for Tre Mann, who has never had double figured in anything except points.

But none of those stats were as disgusting as the Dallas Mavericks being down to the Spurs  42-14 after one quarter, just two days after the order came down from on high for Jason Kidd to bench Luka and Kyrie and tank for a lottery pick when the team still had a shot at the Western Conference play-in. 

I don’t necessarily think the Mavs did the wrong thing by quitting. They were 10-18 after the Kyrie trade and clearly don’t have the defensive skill to compete. But I also don’t think quitters deserve a lottery pick, and the Mavs are putting all their eggs in the basket of their draft pick being in the top 10 so they don’t lose it to the Knicks. 

They aren’t guaranteed to get Kyrie back, and he skipped his exit interview with the team ahead of free agency. This draft pick is a Hail Mary at improving the team enough to keep Luka Doncic from forcing his way out.

But let’s talk about Luka, who has been marketed as the heir apparent to LeBron James when the King finally cedes his throne.

I know it wasn’t Luka’s choice to give up, but the Mavericks are only in a position to give up because two top-10 talents, Luka and Kyrie, weren’t enough to be mediocre, much less good.

If I’m Luka, and I care about my legacy and positioning as the man who will carry the NBA- why waste any time? If the Mavericks don’t luck into a top 3 pick, just force your way out now. You know next year’s Mavs are going to be fighting for a play-in spot all over again.

Especially when next year, all the NBA’s best players are going to put more emphasis on the regular season so they meet the 65-game minumum threshold to qualify for postseason awards. The unserious teams that floated around .500 this year are going to be next year’s trampolines- getting jumped allnover by everyone that’s actually any good.

And maybe that 65-game threshold is exaclty what’s needed to make sure that days like Aprile 9th, 2023 never happen again. When guys that typically struggle to get 40 minutes played in one month are getting 40 minutes in one game.

Let that sink in

Luka Doncic: A Star Is Born for the Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic

There is a moment in the new movie, A Star Is Born, where Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) invites Ally (Lady Gaga) onstage with him to sing for the first time as a duet. The song is titled, “Shallow.” Ally clearly has the voice of a star, but she lacks confidence and an overall stage presence. However, there’s a note in the bridge towards the end of the song where Ally grabs the mic with authority, belts out the note, and owns the stage. It’s in this moment where the audience realizes Ally’s true potential and that she is a star in the making.

Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born / Via: Warner Bros. Pictures

Ally’s huge note that jumpstarted her path to superstardom mirrors Luka Doncic’s miraculous shot from the other night against the Houston Rockets. Early in the first quarter, Doncic received a pass on the wing and was suffocated by last year’s MVP, James Harden. With the shot clock winding down, Doncic made a quick move to the corner and attempted to step back for a three. However, Harden was right in his grill the entire time. Doncic pump faked, which made Harden leave his feet, created space, reset, and then launched the shot. The rest is history.

With that play, a star was born. That play symbolizes Doncic’s young NBA career in a nutshell. This play showed the 19-year-old’s versatilely, creativity, and guts. This is not your ordinary teenager. Throughout 19 games, the 6’7″ forward is averaging 19.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. For reference, only eight players in the NBA matched those numbers last season, and seven of them made All-NBA. With numbers like those, Doncic is the clear frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.

By the way, Doncic also made this shot during their 128-108 win over the Rockets. Doncic is not only a great player but a showman with a flair for the dramatic. “We’ve said from day one, he’s almost like a matador,” said Dirk Nowitzki in an article for Sports Illustrated. “He loves playing off the crowd, loves to make spectacular plays.”

What’s even more impressive than Doncic’s stats is his ability to elevate his team. When Doncic arrived in Dallas, it was quite apparent that they found their replacement for Nowitzki, who would carry the torch for the next decade and lead the Mavs to greatness. Doncic may have been acquired to lead the future, but that process has been expedited to the current team as Doncic is slowly becoming the team’s number one option. Doncic leads the Mavs in scoring and has helped Dallas start off with a 10-9 record, which if the season ended today, would make them the 8th seed in the playoffs. It’s remarkable considering the Mavs started off the season 3-7, but are winners of 7 of their last 8.

Dallas is not a championship team right now, but Doncic makes the Mavs exciting with a promising future. If the front office continues to build a team around this rising superstar, Dallas could be a force in the Western Conference for years to come.

Here’s to the matador. May he continue to baffle defenses for years to come. I leave you with the potential song of the year from The Ringer, “Halleluka.”

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