FIRST TAKE | “Irving & Luka are winning multiple rings together” – Stephen A on Mavericks win vs OKC

FIRST TAKE | “Irving & Luka are winning multiple rings together” – Stephen A on Mavericks win vs OKC

in three years the Mavericks are back in the Western Conference Finals up 3-2 looking to close out top seed OKC PJ Washington was the only the only Maverick starter not in double figures he’s actually had a great series he was very quiet off the feed there from Luca Luca had his third straight triple double in a back and forth game the MBS who were once down 16 in fact at the Break battle back Jay gilis Alexander MVP runner up gets it to go two-point game and then SGA to Hom grin and Oklahoma City is back up 10 seconds to go donic who finished right behind SGA in the MVP voting getting it out to Washington who’s going to be fouled in the corner by SGA did say after the game should have just made it a make Miss situation we talk about the little things all the time and I didn’t really heed what we talk about every day in practice had to make the first two free throws intentionally missed the third last second heave for OKC Off the Mark Dallas wins it in six and advances to the Western Conference finals for the sixth time here’s Kyrie going to make me cry man I’ll do [Applause] [Music] that I just want to thank each one of you guys man uh all your sacrifices all the things that you guys are doing with no one’s watching it’s TR truly appreciated and um all the words affirmation that we’re giving each other go a long way man so keep the positivity going job’s not finished but we could definitely celebrate this one this was hard it was [Applause] [Music] tough what a great scene great access there as I mentioned third straight triple double for Luca in the series his fifth career 25o triple double that’s tied with R for the second most by a player aged 25 or younger in NBA postseason history only Oscar Robertson add more pretty clear you saw it he’ll eventually see it Mavs trailed by 16 at the half marks the franchise’s largest halftime comeback in playoff history and the fourth largest halftime comeback in a series clinching win in league history ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson straight from calling game six in Dallas my goodness what a game it was joins us now here on Sports Center look the Thunder were up 17 points at one point in this game how the heck did Dallas fight back and knock out the one seed well they just battled and look there was a lot of emotion we saw Luca and the energy towards the officials early on but once that settled down once he got his composure Kyrie Irving started getting going in that second half it was special both of them scoring 10 points in that third 10 uh 20 of their 35 were scored by the two of them but I would say the thing that got them back into the game where the rebounding it was 31 rebounds to 47 in favor of the Dallas Mavericks they were able to get extra opportunities I mentioned it on our ABC show that that was a missed opportunity I really thought OKC with all of that assets and a team that was a number one seed there was a deficiency in their roster that everyone talked about during the trade deadline that they needed a big especially with Dallas making a run to get bigs with o uh with Denver on that other side with joic and Aaron Gordon and then obviously Minnesota with that tremendous amount of size that was the one thing that this OKC team was missing and it kind of hurt them coming down this stretch this is the second time in Lucas ker is going to be in the Western Conference Finals remarkable for a team that didn’t even make the postseason last year so now they have a date with either Denver or Minnesota let’s go to the Thunder side of this whole thing they had the best record in the west all year long so does it kind of feel like a let down it doesn’t feel like a let down because this is a very talented team like I I stand by the let down for me was their roster construction of the bigs Shay is talented Jaylen Williams is talented they Chad HR was special this year they had so much to to build off of this year it was not a let down they were ahead of schedule I just think the entire basketball Community wanted them to have a little bit more because that team that we saw tonight were probably one player away from going to the Conference Finals and potentially the NBA Finals yeah they’re still so young but what a game it was my goodness Richard Jefferson on hand for it all and giving us the recap here on Sports Center thank you Richard thank you heading into game six who would you rather have Luca or SGA you give me LCA donic and there’s no indictment on Shay gilis Alexander what whatsoever the guy’s an Unstoppable offensive force and he was incredible the other night in game four with what he did in the fourth quarter to close that game and thoroughly outplayed Luca and Kyrie in that game in the fourth quarter but the answer is Luca donic because he has a large enough sample size for me now in big spots to see the way this guy comes through in the extend to which he dominates the game and look he has not been at his best throughout these two rounds of the playoffs offensively I know he’s not 100% his jump shot has been very inconsistent Lou Dort has been inside his jersey in this round so I don’t think Luca has been at his best but you know when he was at his best two rounds in a row when it was 22 and they went on the road for a game five he did it in the Clipper series he did it again in this series where he is Head and Shoulders better than anybody else on the floor despite the fact that there’s multiple Allstars on the court in both of those Series game five his ability to hone in concentrate play through whatever he’s dealing with physically leave the referees alone and just focus on being an Unstoppable offensive Force as a scorer and as a playmaker it’s incredible what this guy has done and don’t even forget about what he did in the game seven in Phoenix a couple years ago when he went in there and had put that team up 30 40 points on Phoenix in a game seven on the road Luca donic is the real deal when those lights turn up he runs to that he Embraces that and he’s got the physical presence that he can figure out a way to play through anything in that situation so I’m going with LCA if if you got a game that you have to win and LCA donic is taken to court unless you’re just in a situation where you’re overmatched by a team Luca donic is the guy that’s going to be the Difference Maker in those moments and he was again last night I am a firm believer in the present and future of sheay gildas Alexander and uh I may I’m gonna take Shay in this discussion and I may end up looking bad on it because I know what legs just said is true I know that Luca has a track record of being that kind of guy who can deliver in the biggest moments and absolutely Shay is still learning he’s got to vary his game up a little bit I can’t be more invested and believer in in Shay’s future and so he is going to deliver big wins and he’s an absolute killer in the clutch and maybe that happens in game six in Dallas maybe it doesn’t um the other thing I’ll say about this individual moment Luca has been a little up and down in this series there’s times where he’s looked spry last night he looked really good you know three nights ago that knee was bothering him um it’s been a little bit hard to predict how he’s going to come out so I’m gonna say Shay and believe in Shay and even if Shay walks away at the loss the other night I’m holding shares of his future um I don’t have to qualify my praise or my assertions about Shay Gil just alexand um with anything beyond this as great as Nico oit is as great as Anthony Edwards has been this year my vote for League nvp was Shay Gil Sal I have a vote that’s who I voted and I thought that he was very very deserving young a leader on the second youngest team in the NBA I believe um who scored over 30 points in the game over 50 games this year who averaged over 30 was the League’s thirdd leading scorer behind Luc Nanz Chay gilis Alexander is special and in this series what he’s doing right now four straight games okay he’s got over 30 he’s averaging 32 points 51% shooting 45% from threes nine rebounds 6.8 assists over these four games last four games he’s special and I still would side with Tim leg for this big reason even though Luca has been up and down this series averaging 22 points shooting like 39% from the field hasn’t been his normal self we get all of that and we can’t deny that the flip side to it guys is look at the effect Luca’s greatness has on the rest of the Dallas M because when we talk about greatness legs when we talk about greatness Wendy one of the things that we look for it’s not just about what you do it’s about how you serve to Galvanize the troops around you to get most out of them Jay Gill was Alexander last night what does he do 30 points 54% shooting eight assists six six steals um six rebounds two steals the second leading scorer was Chad hen with 13 points in those four games that I mentioned where he’s averaging over 30 your second leading scorer is Jaylen Williams at 15 and a half points per game he’s doing his thing but the others around him ain’t capitalizing off of it and maximizing the potential of the number one overall seed in the Western Conference which is the Oklahoma City Thunder that’s problematic Luca has such a profound effect on the play of a Derek Jones who’s played well of the play of a PJ Washington who’s played exceptionally well Kyrie gets to lurt the great Kyrie Irving a champion one of the most prolific offensive talents this game has ever seen he gets to lurk around scaring the living hell out of the opposition because you know what he can do and he don’t have to do it what was Kyrie Irving you know two of the biggest plays last night that Kyrie Irving made made was tapping rebounds out to Luca jumping in the middle of The Fray and tapping it out to Luca so Luca could launch one of his five threes this is the kind of impact that Luca has had Gafford all of a sudden elevates his level of play we know how athletic he is or whatever all of a sudden he looks even more spy Lively is going after it there’s two big men that know their job cuz they got Luca this Kyrie that knows when to step back and when to step forward cuz he’s got Luca Kyrie Irvin is being differential think about that Kyrie Irving who’s a showstopper who shows up in the second half and a few games in these playoffs and just puts on the show and takes over first round second round this what he does he like let me let me wait let me step back because this brother is who I got here and then of course lot you know Derek Jones with his athletic self and PJ Washington being that Energizer bunny that that that that trouble that that professional trouble maker these brothers know what role they have to play and know how to feed off of Luca better than Oklahoma City players apparently know how to feed off of Shay Gil just Alexander as of yet that is why you go with Luca instead of SGA at this particular moment 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FIRST TAKE | “Irving & Luka are winning multiple rings together” – Stephen A on Mavericks win vs OKC