“He is Mavs killer” – ESPN reacts to Luka Doncic has a TRIPLE-DOUBLE as Mavericks beat Jazz 115-105!

“He is Mavs killer” – ESPN reacts to Luka Doncic has a TRIPLE-DOUBLE as Mavericks beat Jazz 115-105!

Hi they’re Dana Larsson and Devin Harris with you and the Mavericks may not finish the night in six the Sacramento Kings with a lead right now as they play on in their game however you just cannot simply stress enough how important it was that the Mavs won this game in Utah

Tonight it it was it was a big win but it kind of started the way we talked about trying to beat a team twice we saw this Utah team really stepped up in that first half you know having a lead up until pretty much the third quarter and

That that’s how hard is to beat these teams two times in a row they played a lot better than they did the other night but the Mavs hung tough really made some adjustments at halftime they locked in defensively and they didn’t shoot well in the first half but they found a

Rhythm in that second half yeah the Mavs had lost six of their last seven games there including that really ugly loss January 1st so it is not a slam dunk when you go to Salt Lake City and you can sense though that this team understands the urgency right now with

Which they are playing and the opportunities in front of them to beat teams and Bank wins when you need it right now as tough as things are in the standings and there are two guys who you can always look to despite first halfes where the the uh shots were not falling

What’s the line that we always hear harp and and Mark fwell say if they don’t get you early they’re going to get you later yeah so they did not have a rhythm in the first half they not shoot well in that first half but they had other guys

Step up Tim Hardway Jr with a big first half but at some point you know Luke is going to start make shots and you know how how Kyrie can be in that fourth quarter and Luca did a phenomenal job of really passing the ball in that first half really setting up his teammates

Until he found that rhythm in the in the second half we seen the live here to Gafford and you know paint points is always going to be something that he gets to but you know at some point he’s going to find rhythm in that in that

Step back jump shot and it’s going to come at some point we just saw a lot of that in the third quarter but another triple double and uh not a great shooting percentage two 11 from three but he he he contributed the way tonight a lot of rebounds a lot of assists in

The first half yeah always had 10 assists in the first half the Mavericks as a team had 20 that was the most assists in the first half of a game this season we saw a lot of him uh looking for the likes of Gafford at The Rim it

Was nice also uh to see Tim Hardway Jr had all 13 of his points early on he was kind of that early first half scoring Punch Yeah they they kind of ride him and see how the shooting is going that kind of determines what his minutes are

Going to look like but into a good Rhythm early on got a lot of good looks and and knocked them down and and they needed that to keep the game close and and then reach gave up a ton of points in that first quarter but we’re able to

Hang tough and really you know keep it at Bay until halftime you saw the three-point shooting come around enough in this second half guys like PJ Washington Jr got a couple to fall uh they haven’t needed the threes at the same clip where are we at and how you

Feel about this where you’re not relying on it but there’s also is there a little bit of a concern that it is a little bit a little bit but it’s not needed right now and I feel like if they’re figuring out other ways to win games when they’re

Not shooting the ball well from three which is going to be imperative come come you know playoff time but at some point they’re going to need to hit uh more than you know 30 you know 28% from from three in order to stay consistent and try to win games especially when the

Game slows down in the playoffs but it’s good that they’re finding other ways you know defensively points in the paint all that’s going to come into play playoff time so it’s great that they’re getting experience with that right now it is strange to see a three-point percentage

At 28 for the Mavs they average right now uh 36.9% and that has been dropping here a little bit in these last couple of games and yet the winds have not been dropping Mavericks have now won eight of their last nine games let’s head back out to

Salt Lake City to hear from Jason kid I thought the group after the first quarter we you know held them under 25 points there um that first quarter was kind of like a shoot around um they were shooting we were shooting um and so I thought uh our physicality started to

Come in in that second quarter and then after halftime after we talked about it I thought the guys did a really good job us I think it was Zero Second Chance points there in the second half so being able to get the misses and then I thought on the offensive end just

Trusting each other I thought U we had some great looks at three Timmy me PJ um and so just the trust that they missed some early but again in that second half they went to him and PJ made some big threes for us Timmy made some big shots

For us so just the the trust that everybody has in in that locker room you know everyone’s just talking about if we can make a couple threes how easy the game can become and so um again we talked about Utah they fought that they

You know this is a hard place to to win and I thought the guys did a great job of executing on the stretch well and as you indicated in the second half I think Utah shot 37% and marking at only one point in the fourth quarter did you guys do anything

Differently rotation wise in the second half or just tightening your principles well I think just uh understanding you know where he’s at and making him put the ball on the floor he’s he’s one of the best at being able to catch and shoot uh behind the three-point line um

But I think again there the physicality understanding where the game is being called and and how you you know have to play at this time of the year I thought we were we were really good with our physicality off the ball um and then again keeping them off the free throw

Line I thought that was one of the big things there um in the second and third and also in the fourth quarter is just keeping them off the free throw line do you have to say anything to these guys now with these two games coming up inside no you know I think

It’s a game in front of us and um as we talked about starting off the trip this was step one game one um um we can say we can we maybe passed now it’s uh both teams coming off a backto back um understanding Sacramento is one of the

Best teams in the league um tough place to play so this is a great test for us and so um we’ll look at what we need to clean up uh as we go forward and then um we’ll get ready for Sacramento thanks apprciate you thank you and we’ll discuss those two huge

Games coming up here in just a little bit but first uh the things to clean up defensively got off to a rough start as he said it’s it was like a shoot around out there uh gave up 41 points and they were shooting 54% they did really really tighten the

Screws though and what did you see and and how they went about doing that uh just not giving up any early shots no Second Chance points in in the second half a little bit more physical and and we saw guys like Gafford you know protect the paint and I think you know

When you got a gu like that who can you know really anchor your defense along with the the physicality that he brings on a night toight basis that that’s going to Anchor and you know got Luca taking charges you know the activity from a you know deflection standpoint creating Steals and transition buckets

And the ability to rebound the basketball all those things are are big for a defense and kind of build you into you know getting stops and Gord really has brought such a physicality to the it’s it’s his game certainly and he uses that size so well it’s difficult also

Though you’ve got to do it without fouling cuz you heard Jason kid talk about we didn’t want to put them on the line speaking of Lines gafford’s line was impressive once again tonight he only missed one shot that’s about his his usual right 13 Points 11 boards five

Assists five blocks two steals what was your favorite part of his night uh I mean if you look at the assist they’re using him more uh in in a high post situation they’re setting back screens with the likes of Luca and Kyrie which open up you know with the intention to

Get open up wide open layups that’s where you get the assist from and also the blocks I mean this is a team that used to give up a ton of paint points when you get beat off the the initial dribble penetration normally that’s a layup now that’s no longer the case with

The likes of Gafford and Lively protecting the paint and we’re seeing him you know block shots out to the first and second row and and usually a scream to follow that that’s what I love the energy that that he brings and to really set that tone defensively that’s

Right the scream the landlord the nicknames we love every little bit of the energy and effort and excitement that Daniel Gafford is bringing to the Mavericks much more on the Way For For oh you’re for Speee Foreign fore Fore Take For spe spee spee spe foreign spee oh wow Fore spe

“He is Mavs killer” – ESPN reacts to Luka Doncic has a TRIPLE-DOUBLE as Mavericks beat Jazz 115-105!