Jason Kidd knows he’s playing a dangerous game with the high usage that Luka Dončić is getting during the Mavericks’ injury-depleted state.
In back-to-back wins against Memphis on Monday and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, the superstar point guard piled up 44 and 43 minutes, respectively.
That’s a lot of wear and tear, especially when the Lakers were double-teaming him from start to finish in the Mavericks’ 127-125 victory.
Kidd is concerned. But there’s also not a lot he can do with the long list of injured players that are missing from his arsenal.
And Luka knows it.
“I don’t know how I played,” he said after scoring 33 points and dishing out a monstrous 17 assists as the Lakers forced him to get rid of the ball. “I slept very little today. Everything hurts. I’m getting older. But we got back-to-back wins, so I’m really proud of these guys.”
Kidd said he’s determined to back off on the minutes that Dončić plays. But that’s easier said than done. Kidd and his players love winning, which they have done for four games in a row.
Luka playing makes winning more likely, pure and simple. And it was painful to watch when Kidd got Dončić a quick rest at the end of the third quarter against the Lakers.
When LA scored the final eight points of the period to go up 95-93, things could have gone south.
“He wanted to stay in the game with three minutes left,” Kidd said. “But we got to figure out how to get him out of the game with the lead and I felt if the game was tied or we were down two, that he’s fresh, he’ll be ready to go for the fourth.
“The easy part would have been to bring him back as the lead started to go away. But I thought (it was important) giving him those three minutes – he hasn’t had a break in the second half here of late. And also we trust the group out there playing is going to do their part.”
Presumably, it will be easier to get through the non-Luka minutes on the floor when the Mavericks get some of their injured players back – Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber and Derrick Jones Jr. (two starters and two rotation players).
But until then, the best advice Luka can get is to catch his breath whenever he gets a rare chance on the court.
“(It’s important) for him to learn how to rest on offense when he gets double-teamed,” Kidd said. “And that’s what he’s doing. He’s getting double-teamed at the top of the floor and once he does that, it’s advantage basketball.
“But we do want to get healthy. We don’t want to play him 44 minutes right now.”
Here’s our other takeaways from the solid win over the Lakers:
Three, the Hardaway: Tim Hardaway Jr. hit half of his 10 three-point tries against the Lakers and had a season-best 32 points. That’s the second-most points off the bench in his career (36 vs. Atlanta in 2017). And it came a day after Hardaway sat against Memphis on
Monday in deference to a sore back. And then, naturally, he hit the deck hard on the small of his back when he took a charge early on Tuesday. It was one of three charges he took, which gave him the NBA lead, just ahead of former Maverick Jalen Brunson. “No, it didn’t help at all,” he said of the painful charge. “But I laid my body on the line for the team. Those three charges gave us extra possessions. It doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it does show up on the hustle plays when we watch film and that’s all that matters.”
Dante’s inferno: Dante Exum has been on a serious run and it is a reminder that players develop at different rates. Exum was the No. 5 overall draft pick in 2014, a couple of weeks before he turned 19. Now, he’s 28 and the Melbourne, Australia, native is in the prime of his career after going to Europe for two years to work on his game and his confidence. Early in his NBA career, his shooting was questioned. Now, he’s flinging it like a Curry (take your pick, Steph, Seth or Dell). “He’s been amazing for us,” Dončić said. “Not just tonight, but I think tonight was his best game.” Exum had 26 points and hit 7-of-9 three-pointers. In the last three games, when he’s been pressed into a bigger role because of the injuries, he’s averaged 21.7 points, 5.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
Holding the line: Kidd reached into his hockey knowledge after Tuesday’s game to describe the work of the bench, which has been good all season and even more impressive lately because several members of the usual cavalry brigade have been thrust into starting jobs. “I thought the bench was great,” Kidd said. “Timmy carried the load for sure. But I thought (Richaun) Holmes’ physicality giving us second opportunities. We wanted to give him another shot and he was positive. Even though Timmy was the one who scored most of the points, that group, in hockey terms, they were penalty killers for us.”
X: @ESefko
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