Luka Doncic records his first triple-double as a Laker in his first game against the Dallas Mavericks to lead Los Angeles to a 107-99 win. Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni discuss Luka’s game and LeBron’s continued excellence, the Orlando Magic’s big problem on offense, and the weird season for Ja Morant. Then, the Athletic’s Christian Clark joins the show to talk about the Mavs side of the loss, their title chances, and an update on the status of Anthony Davis.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni & Christian ClarkExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson Moody Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in Luka Doncic's first game as a Laker?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, Luka gets revenge on the Mavericks. Cleveland Cavaliers win another one and the Magic are struggling right now. And we got Christian Clark to talk about the Dallas Mavericks and their side of the loss to Luka. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, S. Good morning. How about those Lakers, S? Yeah. Wow.
Showtime is back. We finally got the game. This was probably like one of the most anticipated games of the season, right?
It had to be. Yeah. Absolutely. That, I mean, it was Luka's debut was probably the one right before that. Yeah. Yeah. The Mavericks in L.A. facing Luka Doncic for the first time. And... The Lakers get the win, 107-99. Luka Doncic records his first triple-double as a Laker, which I believe, I didn't look this up, but I'm guessing because it's such a rare thing.
Chapter 2: How did LeBron James perform in the game?
I think he's probably the first guy to record his first triple-double with his new team against his old team. I believe it.
Honestly, yeah. Unless Russell Westbrook did it at some point, I believe it. He did not.
I do know that. I looked that up. Then we're good.
Yeah. Luca was awesome. I thought the theatrics behind this whole thing, he pulls up and changes his license plate. The commercial that Jordan Brand did, they gave out free parking.
before the game to all the Lakers fans there's fans chanting thank you Nico to Nico Harrison in the middle of the game Nico is warming up as actually watching Luca warm up before the game so there was like all this little theatrical stuff that was happening that heightened the drama around it and you could see that there was tons of emotion from both sides Luca the way that he started the game Kyrie the way that really
Early Luca was, you know, contesting a foul call. Kyrie came out, had 12 quick points, which was awesome. It felt like an event. It did. It did.
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Chapter 3: What were the key moments of the game against the Mavericks?
Yeah, it felt it felt like a playoff game, actually, if anything, like it just felt like these two teams were so invested in beating each other that there was even it. Later in the game, there was like Jared Vanderbilt got into it with Kyrie and there was some little back and forth there. Luka kept looking at the bench constantly whenever he was scoring. Oh, yeah.
And it made for just like an awesome basketball game. It was really high level stuff from both sides.
Yeah. I mean, the first six minutes of the game before they took away one of the three pointers that Luka had made. I mean, Luka puts up 10 points, had like. Yeah. what, four rebounds, a couple of assists, a steal and a block. And he's chirping. I thought he was chirping at Jason Kidd, but I'm not sure. I wasn't in the arena, so I don't know. We'll have to wait for the reporting on that.
But, you know, just he came out, I thought, fired up. But the other guy that was really fired up – we'll get to the Kyrie side of this when we talk to Christian Clark after the break, but man, LeBron James, he continues this run that he's been on for a little while now. And I've been saying this and S I think you agree with me here.
Been playing like a top five, you know, top eight, whatever we want to, wherever we want to set that line of delineation, but he's been playing out of his mind for especially his age. But the defensive end, This guy has been pretty incredible. And this is another game where LeBron steps up defensively.
I mean, in lieu of a really strong defensive big man, LeBron James is doing a more than credible job.
Yeah. I mean, I think... The switch everything defense is predicated on the fact that you are able to be crisp on your rotations, that you are willing to buy in on maybe guarding someone who's quicker than you or guarding someone who's bigger than you. And in a situation where you're playing switch everything, LeBron can be your safety for everything that you do.
The key thing there is can be right because when he's bought in on that and when he's actually active like he's been over this last stretch. I mean, the Lakers have the number one defense over the last 15 or so games. Now, part of that is like the Anthony Davis equation and kind of the spillover. But I also think a part of it is Braun locking in. Yeah.
One aspect is Luca. Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say, well, this is a fourth straight game. They've held their opponent to 102 points or less. That's right. Yeah, that's pretty good.
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Chapter 4: What are the Orlando Magic's offensive struggles?
And maybe adding another guard to alleviate some of that ball handling pressure, make Paulo be more of a screener, a guy who can be a rim runner and whatnot. That's probably the next wave here. But their offense is just not good enough to compete right now.
I think Paolo's not the guy to initiate the offense. I think if he's secondary or third guy, maybe that's okay. I don't know if he is as effective. A little bit of like a Julius Randall situation for him, I would say. Anyway. We'll see.
I think he has more of a ceiling than Randall does, for sure.
Without Suggs, though, it is hard to judge anything. because Suggs really just stirs the drink for them so consistently. The Rockets held off the Bucs in, again, it's the Rockets, so it's a close fourth quarter. But the difference is Jalen Green, I thought, did a really good job of getting under control and taking over down the stretch of the game.
They had a big three to put them up, you know, three or four points. I think it was four points. And then they held off from there. But the Rockets, that's a pretty big win to beat the Bucs. I mean, the Bucs are kind of up and down, but they found their footing here since the deadline. They were five and two coming into this game. So pretty big win for the Rockets. Yeah.
What would you think about them last night?
I mean, look, they are always one of those teams that on defense, they're hanging their hat to be involved in games. And they held the Bucs scoreless for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. That's just because of their defense. The thing is, on offense, they only scored seven points in that stretch. And so that's why it was a close game.
But to your point, Jalen Green led them home towards the end of that stretch. When you have moments like this against a Bucs playoff team that can be competitive, I think it shows you what these guys are made of, like what Jalen Green can do in the postseason. And right now, knowing that the Rockets are going to be a playoff team, these are good reps to get in for those moments in April and May.
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Chapter 5: How is Austin Reeves contributing to the Lakers' success?
Yeah, the Hornets...
What are these guys doing? What did the Hornets do? Honestly, look, the Hornets got beat by the Warriors. So the Warriors, we're not going to talk about them beating the Hornets because it's basically an off night for them. But the Hornets become the first team in NBA history to lose three straight games by 35 or more points.
They have had an embarrassing stretch since they beat the Lakers their first game out of the All-Star break.
They used all of their energy.
Listen, I got to ask you, what are they doing right that the Raptors are doing wrong, S?
Oh, that's funny. Look, I don't know, man. I think they are really leaning into the lottery ball odds. Let's tank as much as we possibly can. I think LaMelo Ball, not in this game, but against the Portland Trailblazers where they lost by basically 50 points. He played 21 minutes. I think they're very much so leaning into let's prioritize development.
Look, we're just going to get through the season healthy. They won the Mark Williams Bowl, though. They did. Never forget. Hang the banner in Charlotte. And finally, I hope you guys took the over in Grizzlies Suns because they did not play any defense. 151 to 148. The Grizzlies, actually, they win the game on, you know, just the Suns just blew it defensively. An inbound pass that leads to a layup.
At the opposite end of the court. This Suns team is just beyond embarrassing. Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What impact does J.J. Redick have on the Lakers' lineup?
I mean, look, the Suns are cooked, but I want to talk about the Grizzlies side of this because I thought Jaw had a really wild game, right? He was 0 of 8 to start the first half and then finish off the second half. He had like most of his points in the second half, especially in that fourth quarter. Yeah. Jaron Jackson Jr. gets fouled out. Jaw hits a few huge buckets, leads them into overtime.
He does his like call 12 celebration that he usually does, which is funny in its own right. But look, I think this team, especially this season, goes as far as jaw can take them. Jaw has had a.
uneven season hasn't been as consistent as he was pre injuries obviously hopefully he can get to that level for the playoffs because I think pairing him next to Jaron is going to be really key to how far this team can go so yeah I mean people are going to go and look and they'll say like you know his scoring is down but his minutes are down too
I think his finishing, you know, as you and I, we talked about a little bit in the pre-show, his finishing is not what we're used to from John Morant. I mean, the shooting is never really all that great. And, you know, in this game last night, he gets 14 free throws.
That's, that's an excellent way to make a living if you're an NBA player, but you know, how much, how much juice is that going to have come playoff time for this team? And this is why I'm not that high on the Grizzlies. I think that they're, they're just kind of sitting there waiting for a first round out. And I think John Moran's part of that problem.
Matchups are going to be crazy in the West playoffs. Like you start to, it's at that point in the season where you start looking at matchups and what teams could play. What we just talked about Lakers Mavs. That would be a great playoff series.
Could be a playoff matchup. And I think, you know, like,
know we'll talk with christian about this after the break but last night's game to me is not indicative of what it would be in a playoff series because i think the mavs are better at full strength than this lakers team but how do you go against davis back and yeah that's a different right question but then how do you bet against luca and lebron i mean this is but that's where i go with with ja and the grizzlies i think the other side does matter quite a bit but ja is just not a guy come playoff time puts a lot of fear in my heart if i'm the opposing team
Guys, stick around. After the break, we got Christian Clark live after the Mavericks lose the Luka Bowl. Well, the Mavericks, they're probably disappointed to lose the Luka Bowl, but I think that they're a better team than the Lakers. And here to talk about it, Christian Clark from The Athletic, our Dallas Mavericks beat reporter. Christian, how was the game for you?
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of the Hornets' recent performance?
That is a great question. I mean, they've been starting Kessler Edwards, who's a six foot seven forward on a two way contract at center, you know, just before the all star break. That doesn't obviously feel real sustainable to me. I think they're five and five since the Luka trade. Dwight Powell did come back tonight. You know, he only played 13, 14 minutes. Wasn't bad. Wasn't bad. Yeah.
I mean, I think the Mavericks are are really fighting like Kyrie's locked in. He's playing amazing. You know, Jason kids got great by and it's just it's just really tough. You know, when you have probably like the best collection of bigs in the league and, you know, none of them can play.
Yeah. This team had full health. Klay Thompson thinks that they're a championship-level team. He told you after the game that he's been around championship teams, which we know, and he feels like if they can just keep this thing going, keep it together, when everyone comes back, they got as good a shot as anybody. I actually happen to agree with him.
How do you feel about this team and their championship chances?
I think he's right. I mean, I do think they have a chance to come out of the West. I mean, they did it as a five last year without having a home court advantage in any of the series. I think that's got to give them some confidence. I know Luke has died here anymore, but... I mean, even doing it as an eight is harder than a five.
I mean, we're probably looking at a scenario where they're going to have to win a play-in game this year. But I really like this team when they're at full health. I mean, we saw it for three quarters, that Houston game with AD. I mean, they blocked 18 shots. Like, you totally saw... what they wanted to do defensively. Like I think at full health, they're just absolutely ferocious defensively.
You know, my, I think my big question with this team is like, it's, it's on Kyrie so much as a creator and just how does he hold up in the playoffs when, you know, it's him having to create like 75% of the possessions and the other team is throwing all their best perimeter defenders item.
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Chapter 8: What did the Grizzlies vs. Suns game reveal about their defenses?
It's just a little bit different when you're number one, like most of the time, as opposed to like one a next to Luca, uh, But this is an awesome team. And, you know, when they're full out, they absolutely could come out of the West.
Yeah, I think the answer to that question, or I guess the answer Mavericks fans are hoping for, is that Anthony Davis is that guy to be sort of like that secondary creator. What is the update on AD in terms of when he might be able to come back, what they're expecting from him, and maybe some of the other bigs, too, in Lively and Gafford?
Yeah, I would not say terribly encouraging. In the Mavericks' first practice after the All-Star break, I asked Jason Kidd, hey, with Anthony Davis, you guys said he's going to be reevaluated in two weeks. Does this mean he definitely will not have to have surgery? And Jason Kidd said, we can't say that right now. Basically saying, look, surgery is still a possibility.
On March 6th, the Mavericks are going to give updates on Anthony Davis, on Derek Lively, on Daniel Gafford. I think
lively gafford are for sure going to be out for a while still i mean lively still walking around in a boot gafford's um knee injury looked pretty gnarly that was right before the all-star break so yeah i mean ad's been on this road trip he's been doing some real light shooting but i cannot stress enough like it is it is the lightest of shooting i mean he's not even jumping right now and you know i think the most telling thing of all is jason kidd said yeah i mean surgery's still on the table
That's insane. That is just insane. For this trade to have gone down the way that it did, again, the fallout with the fans, and now you have this whole thing. You mentioned the scene. I mean, there's Kareem there. What is it like for you covering this team and then watching essentially the rebirth of the Showtime Lakers with the Mavericks guy? I mean, what has that been like the last couple weeks?
Yeah, I mean, I don't mind saying this. I grew up a Mavericks fan. Like, you know, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Don Nelson is like what really got me hooked on the NBA. And I think I've lost a lot of that just covering the team. But I got to say, it's like seeing Luka in purple and gold. It's like somebody is just pouring battery acid in my eyes. Like, it's painful. Yeah. I don't like it.
I have like a physical reaction. I'm trying to be professional, but I don't like it. I'm just going to be honest. It doesn't feel right at all.
They did the Jordan commercial today with the car, and they changed the license plate over. But was the car already purple and gold? Did I miss that? Did they get a paint job? Yeah, maybe.
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