DALLAS – Luka Doncic hasn’t had much of a reason to show his infectious smile lately. He firmly believes in the professional benefits of basketball, but that’s hard to do when his Dallas Mavericks lost 10 of their previous 13 games, as was the case when he signed up for work at the American Airlines Center Saturday night.
Assist Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry to bring back Doncic’s joy. Even in an empty arena, nothing creates an NBA vibe like Curry cooking. That was certainly the case on Saturday, when Curry went 11v19 from a 3-point range and threw a flurry of crazy shots, the kind that makes you cackle out loud, on the way to 57 points.
Doncic happily accepted Curry’s spectacular performance as a challenge. He responded with an outing that reminded a national television audience why this 21-year-old went into the season with the weight of MVP expectations, equaling his career high with 42 points and handing out 11 assists to take Dallas to an exciting – and desperately needed – 134 -132 win.
“Obviously, going against Steph is fun,” said Doncic. “I need to have more fun playing the game to be who I was. I just need to enjoy the game again.”
If you didn’t enjoy Saturday’s game, basketball probably isn’t the sport for you. Or maybe you are just a bitter soul. How else can you explain that you are not smiling when you see Curry do an overly shoulder shimmy on the halfcourt logo after draining a transition pull-up from there? How can you not appreciate the artistic beauty of the greatest shooter in NBA history dancing with his dribble before sucking 30-footers in his face with one hand?
“What Steph is doing is an incredible thing,” said Doncic. “I just think every shot goes in when he fired it. It’s incredible how he plays the game and it’s fun to watch even when you’re in the opponent.”
As Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of Curry, “He’s one of the guys I’d pay a lot of money to watch the game.”
Doncic, who only drags Curry among the guards in the All-Star early return voting round, is certainly another player to fit into that category. It’s not just Doncic’s ability to cram box scores – he now has all six 40-point, 10-assist appearances in franchise history, for example – and create highlights that make him worth buying a ticket or at at least turn on the tv just to watch. He’s an entertainer with a rare flair at the moment, something he has in common with NBA legends who have seen Carlisle up close before.
“The basketball floor is his stage,” Carlisle said of Doncic. “Guys like him – and I was around [Larry] Bird; I was around Reggie Miller – when there is another guy on the other team who raises his game to the level that Curry was, you feel an obligation to be that kind of player. I saw Bird do it; I saw Miller do it.
‘You just dig deeper. You find a way to match the guy and try to match the guy to your team. And that’s exactly what he did. ‘
Doncic never allowed Curry to take full control of the game. There were certainly plays when Curry was unstoppable, but Doncic kept responding. Case in point: The last 90 seconds of the second quarter, when Curry finished his 30-point half with a cutting layup and a pair of long 3s and Doncic swung a 3 between some nice floaters, giving the Mavs an eight-point lead by the break.
Doncic, one of the greatest long-range shooters with the lowest percentage, shot like a Splash Brother on Saturday night. He was 7 of 12 from 3 point range. And he got better as the stakes got higher, hitting 3 out of 5 3s in the fourth quarter when the Mavs held the Warriors at bay, the biggest one giving Dallas a seven point lead with 44.5 seconds to go.
“His eyes lit up a bit,” Curry said. “He took some big pictures tonight.”
Of course, a seven-point lead isn’t safe with Curry in sizzle mode. Curry cut the Mavs’ advantage back to four points a few seconds later by a 3 from a feed from Draymond Green (a points center that had his second consecutive 15-assist appearance and that also is a joy to watch). Then, suddenly, it was a one-point game, after Curry danced and shot the track for an en-1 lay-up with 28.6 seconds to go.
Imagine the pressure the Mavs felt at the time, after losing 12 consecutive single possession games, the third longest streak in NBA history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
That streak, it’s worth noting, only included regular season games. You may remember Doncic put the exclamation point on a playoff masterpiece by hitting a step-back 3 to beat the overtime buzzer in Dallas’ Game 4 win over the LA Clippers last season. Doncic had a 43-point triple-double that night when he was in doubt from an ankle sprained about 36 hours earlier; it was an achievement that cleared any doubt that the youngster belonged in the discussion of the best of the league.
Back to crunch time Saturday night, the Warriors decided they would not let Doncic seal this bout by scoring, and sent a doubles team to him 10 yards from the hoop when the shot clock ticked. Doncic accepted that challenge using the tactic and delivered a bounce pass to Maxi Kleber, who was left alone in the corner and hit the dagger 3.
“It’s just very polished,” Curry said, tilting his cap to Doncic. “He’s been showing that since his rookie year, and he’s gotten better. And who knows how high the ceiling is for him? ‘
It will be fun to find out.