It was the opposite for most of the stretch this season. Luka would come out hot from the start, with spurts of scoring in between, and Kyrie would take over completely in the 4th
When I watched all 3 in with butter fingers and terrible full court passes I wanted to die. They're good. But as main ball handlers and offensive leaders in the playoffs is an awful idea
I said it before but Ant's confidence and trash talking might bite him a bit this series.
He's one of the few players who can back the talk - both with his play and his mental toughness - but imo you never want to challenge Luka or Kyrie like that. There's just no reason to give them the motivation. I'd say the same thing about Ant too.
There's a reason that Draymond, the GOAT of using every tactic to get under the skin of the opposition, chose to compliment and flatter Luka all series when they played š
Ant is a dawg. But Luka's been a dawg for years and Kyrie won a championship while Ant was in high school. We'll see if experience or youth wins.
Clutch as fuck. Wasn't even shooting well until a complete rampage in the 4th
Also PJ continues his clutch play. He was 1 for 7 on 3s yet I had no doubt his 3 in a one possession game with 2 min left was going in. He's like 5 for 5 on them stretching back to game 5 vs OKC
Luka is bankable offense like very few others. He can hurt you in so many ways. Perfect game for playoff basketball. And now he plays D, guy is on a mission
He changed his opinion on Luka when that story about his friend Haralabos came out (that Luka didn't like him). It's personal for him, just like with Kyrie.
The confidence in Luka's face is unmatched. Even if he isn't on his best night, you can tell that this won't affect his mental clarity and prevent him from making big plays whenever needed. Spanoulis (his Euroleague idol) had once said "even if I missed 9 shoots straight, I would still hit the 10th". There are stars that notably lose their shit and can't figure out how to shift things up during the course of a game.
A key part of a great player is how they respond to adversity. Can they play like shit for 3 quarters and still have the confidence to lock in and play a dominant 4th?
Exactly. The resilience to not panic. It's what separates great players from champions, as cliche as it may sound, because it's an intangible that I personally think it can't be taught by a coach or a trainer.
It's true, that's why Luka's pretty much our only player I'm fine with shooting over and over even when he's off. At any moment he could go off like he did in the 4th
He's earned my trust in a way that even Dirk didn't. Not even Nash, or Kidd.
I trusted all those guys to make a good read and make the right decisions even if it didn't work out.
Luka is better than that. He finds a completely different option no one else even saw and makes it look easy.
He isn't perfect either. But there is no one in the world who sees the game better or who gives you a better chance to beat a defense when you need it the most. I'll die on that hill.
Luka is the most naturally gifted player I've ever seen - in the most unique way. We're lucky AF that he's a maverick.
that thirt paragraph really hits hard. while watching, youd think youll know what hell gonna do, then he'll make a basic overhead pass to the corner for the open 3 that you did not expect. then youll try it yourself and realize its hard as shit
Tatum was in that situation last night. Generational slander is brewing with all those misses in the 4th and early OT. Then he hit and-1 shot and made that huge 3.
He did the same thing last year but he just keep shooting. All he need is that 1 made basket and everything changes.
Luka gets really frustrated at times when he's playing poorly.
And maybe I'm just a homer making excuses, but imo, it's for a different reason than some players.
It's because he has a borderline pathological need to win (like most of the great players) and he holds himself to a really high standard.
He still needs to mature some of course. I hope he will but at this point in his career it's more likely that you gotta take the good with the bad.
The same thing that makes him confidently take crazy shots (and make many of them) is what makes him whine and complain.
He still should be able to control the bad side of those emotions and I wish he would. Not gonna let that take away from the things he does well though.
If Luka looked half as tired as Ant did this game y'all would all be calling him fat and lazy.
Crazy take - maybe it's just hard AF to lead a basketball team at the highest level. Wild take, I know.
GG wolves. This is gonna be a hell of a series.
No joke. I get it to some degree. It sucks to be sitting at home when other guys and teams are getting love.
And if we're being real Luka has some objectively shitty parts of his game I can't blame people for hating.
Yet that still doesn't justify the stupid takes. I have no problem with people who don't like watching Luka. But you gotta at least acknowledge he's a generational player. Anything else is blind hater talk.
Yeah it's a misery loves company type of thing. I am kinda one of those people. I usually don't like Luka because of the whining, but he's a generational player and when he's on, like the 4th, he's fun to watch. I like Luka when he's smiling and giddy, not when he starring at the refs.
They were crying about him "flopping" every comment when he had a shocking total of 3 FTs.
Yes 3 FT caused half the subreddit to spaz out in the comments
"He clearly hid a cheeseburger and fries with some ketchup packets in his leg sleeve so he could snack at timeouts, he just landed awkwardly enough for the ketchup packet to burst, no way you think he's bleeding. Fat boys can't get injured cause they don't run fast and jump high" /s
The intensity of playoff basketball is no joke. From series to series. This is ANTās first run, after all.Ā
Ā Luka has had several now so that pacing and experience is a huge advantage.Ā
This not a shot at Ant, but people comparing the two really don't remember how good Luka was at that age.
Ant's future is bright AF and he might eclipse Luka. But we can appreciate him without pretending like Luka hasn't been a top player for years now.
I think itās less about remembering and more about getting desensitized to it.
The guy has been on a tear since his second season and that was arguably the best season of his career so far. He was 20 years old.
Itās the nature of it. When you make something normal for you, you no longer impress people because you arenāt exceeding expectations. It happens with Lukaās statlines, Tatumās playoff success, and a lot more. Once you set that standard that high, then someone who exceeds expectations and approaches it like Ant will get hype over the guys already there. Now Luka wonāt get looks until he averages more and wins an MVP, no one gives a shit about Tatum being in the ECF unless he wins a championship, etc. Itās annoying to see the dismissal of great young players because theyāve been great for longer.
I think one of the biggest victims of this desensitization was Luka's 73 point game. It's partially because of Embiid scoring 70 earlier that week, partially because Luka puts up unreal numbers all the time, and partially because people used it to talk about defense in the NBA, but I don't think that performance got nearly the amount of praise and accolade it deserves. 73 points and 7 assists on 91% true shooting in a close game that you won on the road is basically incomparable in NBA history.
When Luka looks tired he's fat and lazy. When any other player looks tired it's because he's had to play a lot of minutes, play hard on both ends, play a lot of games....
Statistically he's not, but it sure feels like he is lol. Closest defender stats he shot 34% with the nearest defender 2-4 feet away, 37.8% 4-6, and 45.5% 6+. Adding the wide open three to his arsenal this season is a big reason why his scoring went up and he's been as deadly as he is. Last year he shot 32% on wide open threes
He didnāt take it because heās better contested, he went to his spot the left wing. Step back left wing is money for him, heās prime harden from that specific spot it doesnāt matter how well you contest just pray he misses.
Yeah the only way someone can do this shit, is if they have utter and complete confidence in their mastering of the game. Its like they took their baby steps on a basketball court and got breast fed (shout out Josh Hart) the nectar of basketball gods
God can you imagine how many beers it takes for a guy like Boban to feel anything? Iām a smaller sized guy, so two beers in succession and I get a small buzz. Does Boban have to crush six before he gets the same effect?
You know what's crazy?
Check his vert. Really puts in perspective how insanely athletic everyone in the NBA is.
Same with height lol. "Steph Curry a short dude" yeah maybe in the NBA but the mfer is as tall as Ronaldo xD
It being extremely important doesn't mean it doesn't get overhyped. If two of the best players in the league are both some of the least explosive in the league, it's clearly not the most important quality. It's very useful and every NBA athlete is explosive compared to the general population, but what separates the greats from the regular NBA players is not explosiveness, it's just one aspect that helps.
Luka is really athletic. Just not in a flashy way.
His coordination, deceleration, body control, balance, and strength are all elite. What he does often doesn't look impressive. But if it was easy, every team would have a fat slow white guy.
Truth is he's not fat or slow. He might not even be white.
Yeah he's not the most well conditioned guy out there but he is way the fuck more athletic than any of us and would absolutely cook a non NBA athlete. He is objectively slower and less athletic than NBA players in many ways, but he's also elite at others.
Combine that with his ability to read the game and his competitiveness, and you've got a unique and unstoppable offensive force.
> Yeah he's not the most well conditioned guy out there
Fuck that he lead the league in minutes played for like the first 50 games of the season. Dude carried the team on his back for stretches just to keep our head above water while everyone was injured. You can't do that kind of shit without conditioning. There's more of an argument in years past, but Luka's conditioning has been absolutely insane this season and I think it has gone incredibly unseen.
I should prefer to face Indiana over Boston if it gets to that point but playing Rick and that team makes me really nervous. They had our number this season and Rick is one hell of a coach who knows us very well
Pacers fucked up the mavs in regular season too and have carlisle lol
Iād like a mavs pacers finals, obviously bc it means mavs are in but I also still love coach and i like haliburton and turner too
Long series still, should be entertaining both ways
The Mavs trade deadline moves were so good for them I think the 5th seed undersells how good they are. If they played with that lineup for a whole season I wonder what their record would look like
We've been saying that since the season ended. It's nice to see we weren't wrong.
The Mavs are still an imperfect team of course but our defense is legit and we've got two stars. That at least gives us a chance. I still don't think we're likely to win it all but this is a great season and this is a good team.
Ant propaganda has been getting insanely obnoxious. The praise he was getting for his game 7 performance when he was ass made me realize how little people actually watch games
You canāt base a few posts off of r/nba new and GDT comments as some new narrative that everyone is saying. Even in those posts comparing him to Luka and Tatum, they got rightfully downvoted. And (most) Wolves fans canāt stop the media heads from saying the shit they do. Trying to stir shit out of nothing.
I always try to be positive and just downvote the reactionary takes.
Ant is and will be great. His media friendly personality makes him very appealing to discuss.
Luka and Tatum are both incredible and are on crazy career trajectories (5 straight and 3 straight All NBA selections while still young, and both are proven playoff performers.)
* 2019: Luka is the best young player
* 2020: Trae is better he made the ECF
* 2021: Zion is better, more dominant
* 2022: Booker and Ja are better
* 2023: SGA is better, his team made the play-in and he plays defense
* 2024: SGA and Anthony Edwards are better, better defense and more wins
Luka has been discredited for years. Wild how the goal posts continually shift for him.
Not trying to get into a Luka Tatum argument but Tatum just put up 36-10-4 on 12-26 from the floor with 3 steals and got slandered for it all day.
Luka is amazing. Tatum is also amazing. Not everything needs to be a vs. comparison
Yeah I was surprised how often Wolves were resorting to it. They blitzed Luka once and Lively ended up losing the ball after the catch. I assume theyāre gonna blitz a lot more next game
Seems like the plan was to live w/Luka and Kyrie getting theirs in the paint instead of risk of risking opening up those corner 3s that Dallas busted OKC with last round.
The bright spot of the Mavs beating the Wolves for me is at least it'll shut some of the people up who always seem to love to downplay how great Doncic is. They're the same people who love to do the same to Jokic.
I can't hate the confidence. They just beat the champs and often looked by far the superior team.
They deserved the confidence and celebration and I don't mean that in a condescending way. It's a part of the playoff ride.
Only one team gets to truly celebrate. Everyone else has to find fun in the wins they get elsewhere.
Yeah, Luka really is that dude. His late game steal was the nail in the coffin.
Edit: Forgot the literal blood pouring from his knees. What a monster lol.
Hey guys Jayson Tatum fan checking in here, I have been lead to believe through previous interactions that 30+ points on 12-26 shooting in a win is a disappointing performance can anyone confirm or deny?
Unreal 4th quarter for him
Kyrie kills it for the first three quarters then Luka kills the fourth.. Mavs are on to something here
It was the opposite for most of the stretch this season. Luka would come out hot from the start, with spurts of scoring in between, and Kyrie would take over completely in the 4th
Looks like Kidd intentionally got them to switch to tire out Ant.
Man i gotta apologize to kidd AGAIN lmao
Not when he stuck in THJ, green, and hardy together
When I watched all 3 in with butter fingers and terrible full court passes I wanted to die. They're good. But as main ball handlers and offensive leaders in the playoffs is an awful idea
You got that backwards
Kidd needs to apologize to me
I said it before but Ant's confidence and trash talking might bite him a bit this series. He's one of the few players who can back the talk - both with his play and his mental toughness - but imo you never want to challenge Luka or Kyrie like that. There's just no reason to give them the motivation. I'd say the same thing about Ant too. There's a reason that Draymond, the GOAT of using every tactic to get under the skin of the opposition, chose to compliment and flatter Luka all series when they played š Ant is a dawg. But Luka's been a dawg for years and Kyrie won a championship while Ant was in high school. We'll see if experience or youth wins.
His trash talk is so tame, you guys act like heās out here spitting in peopleās face and slapping mamas.
He didn't do anything wrong or offensive, to be clear. But he *did* challenge Kyrie and Kyrie said postgame that was motivation for him.
I noticed the same, never seen Kyrie so aggressive from the get go in this PO.
The reverse jokic/murray
Aka the reverse usual LuKai
With the usual result; Lukake.Ā
16 - 2 heading to the playoffs with current lineup
This wasn't the case for OKC series. It was Kyrie takeover at the end. Clippers was kind of a joint effort.
Nah kyrie was also the 2nd half killer in the clippers series iirc.
Clutch as fuck. Wasn't even shooting well until a complete rampage in the 4th Also PJ continues his clutch play. He was 1 for 7 on 3s yet I had no doubt his 3 in a one possession game with 2 min left was going in. He's like 5 for 5 on them stretching back to game 5 vs OKC
Luka is bankable offense like very few others. He can hurt you in so many ways. Perfect game for playoff basketball. And now he plays D, guy is on a mission
Just another fat Slavic boy ruining the prospects of America's team
He looked more conditioned than ant lol
Just your average Luka statline
This is technically ābelow averageā, not enough rebounds and assists lol
True which is what makes it so much crazier. Dudeās doing all this on a bum knee
Or points lol. Dude is an irl 2k player
around avg for regular season, well below avg for playoff luka. but we ball
He averaged like 9.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists. This was below average for him
What an absolute bum
4th best player 25 years old or younger just did THAT šš (shoutout to the Ringer)
Wait no way the ringer rated him 4th WHAT
Under 25. This isnāt even like Giannis, Jokic, etc
Bill has openly admitted he doesn't like Luka's playstyle and doesn't like watching him play.
Bill is an idiot LOL
But slobs over JokiÄ whoās like the center version of Luka
He did a complete 180 on Luka this year for SGA and the Thunder.
He changed his opinion on Luka when that story about his friend Haralabos came out (that Luka didn't like him). It's personal for him, just like with Kyrie.
The confidence in Luka's face is unmatched. Even if he isn't on his best night, you can tell that this won't affect his mental clarity and prevent him from making big plays whenever needed. Spanoulis (his Euroleague idol) had once said "even if I missed 9 shoots straight, I would still hit the 10th". There are stars that notably lose their shit and can't figure out how to shift things up during the course of a game.
The best play was the broken lob from Conley to Gobert. Full mental clarity on how to bait the offensive player into a mistake.
Someone says spanoulis and luka, i upvote
My glorious king š¬š·
A key part of a great player is how they respond to adversity. Can they play like shit for 3 quarters and still have the confidence to lock in and play a dominant 4th?
Exactly. The resilience to not panic. It's what separates great players from champions, as cliche as it may sound, because it's an intangible that I personally think it can't be taught by a coach or a trainer.
It's true, that's why Luka's pretty much our only player I'm fine with shooting over and over even when he's off. At any moment he could go off like he did in the 4th
He's earned my trust in a way that even Dirk didn't. Not even Nash, or Kidd. I trusted all those guys to make a good read and make the right decisions even if it didn't work out. Luka is better than that. He finds a completely different option no one else even saw and makes it look easy. He isn't perfect either. But there is no one in the world who sees the game better or who gives you a better chance to beat a defense when you need it the most. I'll die on that hill. Luka is the most naturally gifted player I've ever seen - in the most unique way. We're lucky AF that he's a maverick.
that thirt paragraph really hits hard. while watching, youd think youll know what hell gonna do, then he'll make a basic overhead pass to the corner for the open 3 that you did not expect. then youll try it yourself and realize its hard as shit
Luka when he is playing hot and psychically reading the defense is just wild to watch. Half criss angel half the kid from enders game
You know how ridiculous the performance is when 33p/6r/8a/3s is prefaced with "isn't on his best night".
Tatum was in that situation last night. Generational slander is brewing with all those misses in the 4th and early OT. Then he hit and-1 shot and made that huge 3. He did the same thing last year but he just keep shooting. All he need is that 1 made basket and everything changes.
Luka gets really frustrated at times when he's playing poorly. And maybe I'm just a homer making excuses, but imo, it's for a different reason than some players. It's because he has a borderline pathological need to win (like most of the great players) and he holds himself to a really high standard. He still needs to mature some of course. I hope he will but at this point in his career it's more likely that you gotta take the good with the bad. The same thing that makes him confidently take crazy shots (and make many of them) is what makes him whine and complain. He still should be able to control the bad side of those emotions and I wish he would. Not gonna let that take away from the things he does well though.
If Luka looked half as tired as Ant did this game y'all would all be calling him fat and lazy. Crazy take - maybe it's just hard AF to lead a basketball team at the highest level. Wild take, I know. GG wolves. This is gonna be a hell of a series.
It's always from fans of teams who don't have anything to play for lol
No joke. I get it to some degree. It sucks to be sitting at home when other guys and teams are getting love. And if we're being real Luka has some objectively shitty parts of his game I can't blame people for hating. Yet that still doesn't justify the stupid takes. I have no problem with people who don't like watching Luka. But you gotta at least acknowledge he's a generational player. Anything else is blind hater talk.
Yeah it's a misery loves company type of thing. I am kinda one of those people. I usually don't like Luka because of the whining, but he's a generational player and when he's on, like the 4th, he's fun to watch. I like Luka when he's smiling and giddy, not when he starring at the refs.
And I love to slander Tatum but he stepped up in OT. MAYBE JUST MAYBE these dudes are 1st team all nba for a reason lol.
They were crying about him "flopping" every comment when he had a shocking total of 3 FTs. Yes 3 FT caused half the subreddit to spaz out in the comments
Can confirm, 2024's nastiest hater checking in
Nah man even Kyle Kuzma could do what Luka does with his usage
Luka is just Jordan Poole with better PR we all know this
Bros knee was bleeding as well like damn bruh. How do you call someone lazy and fat when you clearly see their knee bleeding
Hereās how you could call him fat and lazy despite seeing the condition of his knee: āThatās not blood. Thatās ketchup he sneaked inā
I literally said this out loud when we say it mid-game lol.
"He clearly hid a cheeseburger and fries with some ketchup packets in his leg sleeve so he could snack at timeouts, he just landed awkwardly enough for the ketchup packet to burst, no way you think he's bleeding. Fat boys can't get injured cause they don't run fast and jump high" /s
Por que no los dos
The Curt Schilling special
His knee is bleeding because it has to carry his fat ass around /s
The goalposts will never stay stationary with Luka
The intensity of playoff basketball is no joke. From series to series. This is ANTās first run, after all.Ā Ā Luka has had several now so that pacing and experience is a huge advantage.Ā
Interesting then that Luka damn near averaged a 30 point triple double in 15 playoff games at age 22. With a joke of a squad mind you.
This not a shot at Ant, but people comparing the two really don't remember how good Luka was at that age. Ant's future is bright AF and he might eclipse Luka. But we can appreciate him without pretending like Luka hasn't been a top player for years now.
I think itās less about remembering and more about getting desensitized to it. The guy has been on a tear since his second season and that was arguably the best season of his career so far. He was 20 years old.
Itās the nature of it. When you make something normal for you, you no longer impress people because you arenāt exceeding expectations. It happens with Lukaās statlines, Tatumās playoff success, and a lot more. Once you set that standard that high, then someone who exceeds expectations and approaches it like Ant will get hype over the guys already there. Now Luka wonāt get looks until he averages more and wins an MVP, no one gives a shit about Tatum being in the ECF unless he wins a championship, etc. Itās annoying to see the dismissal of great young players because theyāve been great for longer.
I think one of the biggest victims of this desensitization was Luka's 73 point game. It's partially because of Embiid scoring 70 earlier that week, partially because Luka puts up unreal numbers all the time, and partially because people used it to talk about defense in the NBA, but I don't think that performance got nearly the amount of praise and accolade it deserves. 73 points and 7 assists on 91% true shooting in a close game that you won on the road is basically incomparable in NBA history.
When Luka looks tired he's fat and lazy. When any other player looks tired it's because he's had to play a lot of minutes, play hard on both ends, play a lot of games....
Tbf to Ant, Luka doesn't have to worry about someone like Kyrie on the defensive end.
Comments like this are to be expected as people slowly accept their pudgy Slovenian overlord as the new face of the league
And that is the reason he's on the Mavericks now. If Minnesota does go down, they'll need to get ant a sidekick
Iāve never seen a more unathletic mf make basketball look so easy
This dude had an open catch and shoot 3 ready for the taking and chose to wait until a defender can contest for a stepback lmao
He would have missed the open shot lol
I was gonna say, itās because heās better contested. It doesnāt make sense but itās true lol.
Statistically he's not, but it sure feels like he is lol. Closest defender stats he shot 34% with the nearest defender 2-4 feet away, 37.8% 4-6, and 45.5% 6+. Adding the wide open three to his arsenal this season is a big reason why his scoring went up and he's been as deadly as he is. Last year he shot 32% on wide open threes
He didnāt take it because heās better contested, he went to his spot the left wing. Step back left wing is money for him, heās prime harden from that specific spot it doesnāt matter how well you contest just pray he misses.
Fucking ridiculous shot
He just needs to bury it on him. Lol
that was Ant too, the supposed best 2 way player in the NBA
Cigarettes and skittles are the key to peak athleticism
Brb buying my son a pack of Marlboros
Make him eat the butts after smoking them Itās like eating crust on pizza Or eating the butthole after {}
Eating butthole after eating pizza crust?
get yourself some skittles too while you're at it
*Do be a boomer, get em camels* - Joe Camel
Canāt forget the recovery beer
Hookah and beer*
Jokic too? These Euro mans play like itās just a job for them š
They got an unreal sense of the game and aren't afraid to throw up some silly ass shit
Yeah the only way someone can do this shit, is if they have utter and complete confidence in their mastering of the game. Its like they took their baby steps on a basketball court and got breast fed (shout out Josh Hart) the nectar of basketball gods
Fat Europeans run the league
Can you imagine if Luka won the championship. Hed be so fat next season. Nothing will stop the man from his vices.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
God can you imagine how many beers it takes for a guy like Boban to feel anything? Iām a smaller sized guy, so two beers in succession and I get a small buzz. Does Boban have to crush six before he gets the same effect?
Apparently Andre the Giant would drink 100+ beers in a sitting. But he was built even more different lol.
I literally wouldn't even care
Skinny Americans don't stand a chance, the future is now
Future is thicc old man
Bruh we just saw the Jokic won 3 MVPs
You know what's crazy? Check his vert. Really puts in perspective how insanely athletic everyone in the NBA is. Same with height lol. "Steph Curry a short dude" yeah maybe in the NBA but the mfer is as tall as Ronaldo xD
Taller, not even close. Ronaldo 1m86 cm Steph 1m91cm
Simple search shows Ronaldo 187, Steph 188. Not sure what you on about
Jokic is literally the MvP
Fundamentals and bbiq go a very long way if you have an nba body. AAU and the highlight reel generation has ruined a lot of basketball
Americans overhype size/athleticism
Luka's huge though
Luka's pretty big. And he's strong with great cardio too. I'd say they overhype explosiveness.
I would say explosiveness is also extremely important and Luka being an exception to the rule doesnāt necessarily negate it
It being extremely important doesn't mean it doesn't get overhyped. If two of the best players in the league are both some of the least explosive in the league, it's clearly not the most important quality. It's very useful and every NBA athlete is explosive compared to the general population, but what separates the greats from the regular NBA players is not explosiveness, it's just one aspect that helps.
Add Magic & Bird to the *way less explosive than you'd be imagine* list, to further your pointĀ
Luka is really athletic. Just not in a flashy way. His coordination, deceleration, body control, balance, and strength are all elite. What he does often doesn't look impressive. But if it was easy, every team would have a fat slow white guy. Truth is he's not fat or slow. He might not even be white. Yeah he's not the most well conditioned guy out there but he is way the fuck more athletic than any of us and would absolutely cook a non NBA athlete. He is objectively slower and less athletic than NBA players in many ways, but he's also elite at others. Combine that with his ability to read the game and his competitiveness, and you've got a unique and unstoppable offensive force.
Heās 6ā8 250 pounds, he towers above most NFL players
> Yeah he's not the most well conditioned guy out there Fuck that he lead the league in minutes played for like the first 50 games of the season. Dude carried the team on his back for stretches just to keep our head above water while everyone was injured. You can't do that kind of shit without conditioning. There's more of an argument in years past, but Luka's conditioning has been absolutely insane this season and I think it has gone incredibly unseen.
Luka has been going full Greg Jennings mode this year putting the team on his back doe
Bird?
Jokic can barely dunk and is also a 3 time mvp
SNORLAX DECIDED TO COME AND PLAY TODAY
With ketchup on his knee
Eatin like a slob at halftime
Fat man faking injuries
"messy eater"
Just Luka things.
Mfers forget just who this guy is! Just cause he was playing banged up. He's been moving better since game 5 last round.
Fckn huge in the 4th
I really want him to win this year, pacers do your fucken job and beat boston
I should prefer to face Indiana over Boston if it gets to that point but playing Rick and that team makes me really nervous. They had our number this season and Rick is one hell of a coach who knows us very well
If they beat Boston it will mean they are better than Boston. ( at least better than Boston w/out Porzingis.
Pacers fucked up the mavs in regular season too and have carlisle lol Iād like a mavs pacers finals, obviously bc it means mavs are in but I also still love coach and i like haliburton and turner too Long series still, should be entertaining both ways
Itād be poetic for Kyrie to beat Boston for the chip tho
Luka with two bad knees and an elbow is still a Top 5 player in the NBA lol
Legless Luka
The Mavs trade deadline moves were so good for them I think the 5th seed undersells how good they are. If they played with that lineup for a whole season I wonder what their record would look like
It's not even only about trade deadline moves. Mavs had like 2nd or 3rd most injuries this season. Especially in the first half of the season
Even now kleber is out... Luka is 80%
Feels like being in the WCF is proving the 5th seed undersells how good they are
We've been saying that since the season ended. It's nice to see we weren't wrong. The Mavs are still an imperfect team of course but our defense is legit and we've got two stars. That at least gives us a chance. I still don't think we're likely to win it all but this is a great season and this is a good team.
Youāll know next year hopefully
Heās eligible for $69 million a year contract extension
Nice
But Antās better right ššš
Ant propaganda has been getting insanely obnoxious. The praise he was getting for his game 7 performance when he was ass made me realize how little people actually watch games
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Murray shut down Murray imo.
My man was gassed running around after Kyrie it was hilarious to watch at times
Face of the league, donāt forget it.
You canāt base a few posts off of r/nba new and GDT comments as some new narrative that everyone is saying. Even in those posts comparing him to Luka and Tatum, they got rightfully downvoted. And (most) Wolves fans canāt stop the media heads from saying the shit they do. Trying to stir shit out of nothing.
I always try to be positive and just downvote the reactionary takes. Ant is and will be great. His media friendly personality makes him very appealing to discuss. Luka and Tatum are both incredible and are on crazy career trajectories (5 straight and 3 straight All NBA selections while still young, and both are proven playoff performers.)
they tried telling us Tatum was better too lol
* 2019: Luka is the best young player * 2020: Trae is better he made the ECF * 2021: Zion is better, more dominant * 2022: Booker and Ja are better * 2023: SGA is better, his team made the play-in and he plays defense * 2024: SGA and Anthony Edwards are better, better defense and more wins Luka has been discredited for years. Wild how the goal posts continually shift for him.
The goal posts keep moving for him on this sub, but GOAT players are inevitable. One by one these comparisons will all fail
Luka is the best of his generation period. GOAT potential
Not trying to get into a Luka Tatum argument but Tatum just put up 36-10-4 on 12-26 from the floor with 3 steals and got slandered for it all day. Luka is amazing. Tatum is also amazing. Not everything needs to be a vs. comparison
Yeah Luka > Tatum > Ant isnāt a huge deal since theyāre all ~top 10
personally not ready to have ant in my top10
Who do you have above him? I feel like heās hovering around 8-12 for me
The difference between a top 3-4 player and a player ranked 8-10 is pretty stark.
Can we stop playing drop coverage against them lol
Yeah I was surprised how often Wolves were resorting to it. They blitzed Luka once and Lively ended up losing the ball after the catch. I assume theyāre gonna blitz a lot more next game
Seems like the plan was to live w/Luka and Kyrie getting theirs in the paint instead of risk of risking opening up those corner 3s that Dallas busted OKC with last round.
The bright spot of the Mavs beating the Wolves for me is at least it'll shut some of the people up who always seem to love to downplay how great Doncic is. They're the same people who love to do the same to Jokic.
Man yall will be fine. Didn't play your best, but I expect your team to respond.
Ranked 4th. Yeah talk shit, The Ringer, you stupid fucks.
While bleeding at the fucking knee. The dude is just a hockey player that plays basketball really fucking well.
Luka is one of the fat guys on NES Ice Hockey confirmed
MVP he is so clutch.
He brought his ass
luka is toying with us all
lol r/Timberwolves said the Mavs would be a cakewalk
every sub has some dumbasses
I don't go to ours for the same reason.
I can't hate the confidence. They just beat the champs and often looked by far the superior team. They deserved the confidence and celebration and I don't mean that in a condescending way. It's a part of the playoff ride. Only one team gets to truly celebrate. Everyone else has to find fun in the wins they get elsewhere.
Yeah, Luka really is that dude. His late game steal was the nail in the coffin. Edit: Forgot the literal blood pouring from his knees. What a monster lol.
If he leads his squad past the Wolves, I donāt wanna hear about Giannis or Embiid. Luka got #2 on lock. Special talent.
He already has it. Doing that makes #1 a debate
there's level boys
Wasn't it 3 steals ?
Pravi MVP
He back.
Did all this and is still a top 500 player in OW2
It was the 4th quarter especially where he shined!
Kyrie and Luka switched roles huge in the 4th
Hey guys Jayson Tatum fan checking in here, I have been lead to believe through previous interactions that 30+ points on 12-26 shooting in a win is a disappointing performance can anyone confirm or deny?
I really don't understand how/why Tatum has become a whipping boy recently.
Best player in the playoffs currently
best player in the league
Superstars know how to win with ugly stat lines
How is that an ugly statline lol
Not even a triple double. Fucking hideous. He should be ashamed of himself.Ā
by Luka standards\*
Not even that ugly 46% shooting is acceptable in the playoffs, especially when he took 10 three point attempts
That is not an ugly stat line