SAN FRANCISCO – As he emerged from the visitors’ locker room at Chase Center more than an hour after the final buzzer of a 132-122 win over the Golden State Warriors, Luka Dončić sounded like somebody who believes the Mavericks made good use of Kyrie Irving’s time away from the court.
It’s been since Dec. 8 that Dončić’s running mate in the backcourt has played in a game.
In that span, a lot of other Mavericks have gotten chances to play – and play well.
The long list includes, but isn’t limited to, Dante Exum, Dereck Lively II, Derrick Jones Jr., Dwight Powell and Josh Green. All of them played key roles in various games while Irving has been out with a heel injury.
“Obviously, when Kai’s in the game it’s way easier because of the player he is,” Dončić said. “But you know, I think we have some great players on our team, so we just stay together, play basketball and that’s how we got a win.”
Against the Warriors, it was a combination of Green’s 18 points and Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 16 off the bench. And Lively was terrific with 14 rebounds to go with 12 points. Getting close to a push against the strong-rebounding Warriors is a big plus.
Irving could return New Year’s Day at Utah. Or if not then, coach Jason Kidd said it will be early in the seven-game home stand that begins Wednesday against Portland.
Either way, it’ll be good for Luka and everybody else to have him back.
Here’s a few other takeaways from the 10-point win over Golden State.
OH, AND LUKA WAS GOOD, TOO: It’s just been a phenomenal December for Dončić. If he’s not the NBA’s player of the month in the Western Conference, then somebody else must have been superhuman, because that’s what Luka was. His 39 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds were right on his averages for the last two weeks. He’s had 38 or more points in seven of his last eight games. “He’s a brilliant player,” Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr said. “We tried to mix it up on him. We single-covered him, switched, hit him. (When) we started getting two on the ball, that’s where he picked us a part. He was fantastic tonight.” For December, Luka averaged 37.5 points, 11.1 assists and 8.9 rebounds in 13 games.
POWER IN RESERVE: The Mavericks won by 10 points. Their bench outscored the Golden State reserves 46-37. Coincidence? Probably not.
WARRIORS IN NEED OF A JOLT: A famous coach once said that you are what your record says you are. So Golden State is 15-17 and, at the moment, out of the postseason picture. That could and probably will change as the season goes along. But for now, the Warriors, Lakers and Phoenix are bunched in the middle (bottom-middle?) of the Western Conference pack. Strange days, indeed.
X: @ESefko
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