The Dallas Mavericks Beat the Minnesota Timberwolves - Slightly Biased Reacts

[@orionzervakos]

Ant tried to do what Luka did to them in Game 5. The difference is after Luka's 20 point barrage the Mavs were up 12 and all the air had been sucked out of the building. There was absolutely no shot for the Wolves and everyone knew it. The fact the Mavs were only down 8 after the first quarter and had weathered the storm had to be disheartening. And then to be down at the half. Golly

[@jimmygreer2140]

I absolutely feel like Luka needed to get pissed off and find that edge that he usually seems to play with. I love seeing happy & showboating Luka but I don't think his competitive juices were pumping like they usually do. But something made Luka snap in that 4th quarter. I'm not sure if he got pissed that homeboy nearly put him in a headlock. Or if he was pissed that the refs were VERY late on the OBVIOUS foul. Or if the fans were talking a little too much shit and that pissed him off. Or maybe it was EVERYTHING and Luka was like "EEEEEEEEENOOOOOUGHHH" and immediately cracks the net on a 35 footer. I hope that part of Luka that makes him just sooooo incredibly lethal & one of the best ballers on planet Earth awoke in that moment and is ready to stick around for the season. All I know is that I was seeing just way too much of Happy Go Lucky Luka. KD out there telling him he's too small and he's just smiling like his buddy got a good one on him. Nah, I wanna see Luka get PISSED. Get in KD's face and go on one of his personal 14-3 runs. Feel like people have been getting away with poking the Luka Bear....but you should NEVER poke the Luka or else he will rip your heart out & eat it in front of you.

[@Velveteenvision]

Love when Kyrie gets a chance to play a bigger role when Luka is out or not playing well.

[@jimmygreer2140]

Naji needs more love. I know his 3pt shot is missing atm. But the dude is putting in work on defense!!! Bro caught my attention when he was denying the ball to Ant...he is SERIOUS about his defense. Anytime the Wolves have a possession where Ant doesn't touch the ball is a win for the Mavs. Then he comes up with the game sealing steal on Ant!!! He made Kidd look like an absolute genius with that offense/defense switch he made there. The defense has been pretty nice all year....except for that 3-5 minute stretch where Kidd went with the Maxi small ball lineup & Nurk put in 12 straight points. Naji & Grimes have been playing really nice defense. Klay hasn't been this liability on defense like some were saying he'd be. Lively is even better on defense. And all this defense has got Luka and Kyrie playing some defense.

[@Velveteenvision]

@@jimmygreer2140 Naji has been great on defense. Also love his passing. I know he’s going to start shooting better as he gets more comfortable

[@ColinMarinich]

Hey Slightjy, missing the live watch parties 🥳

[@benjousan8470]

Luka has been roasting Gobert for a decade.

[@DonDeteguta]

Remember Donte and Julius are also new to this team, I’m sure they’re finding their place. Regardless, MFFL, we got this 81-1!

[@Ant_561]

That thumbnail photo iconic 😂

[@jimmygreer2140]

LOL the Wolves absolutely weren't gonna let Klay go off. Watching the highlights I noticed that Conley was just face guarding Klay. He had no interest in what was going on behind him or providing ANY sort of help defense. Klay was in the corner and Conley was gonna make sure he wasn't open. And please give us more of that Rudy Nobert hate!!! It's absolutely true what ya'll said post-game. Why should Mavs fans fear Rudy? Just like I'm starting to believe that Ant is a 2 pump chump cause he's no where to be found in the climax of the 4th quarter. Bro has already had his sandwich and is passed out in bed when it's crunch time. Also, that was a VERY impressive win considering they had travelled across the country for their 2nd tipoff within the same day. That is like the most brutal back-to-back the NBA could schedule a team. Like you could AT LEAST give them a 9:30 tipoff and account for SOME of the travel time, but nope. The Mavs didn't care. They went in and handled business.

[@Velveteenvision]

Yeah it was an impressive win. Kyrie really carried the team. Love seeing him step up and play a bigger role when Luka isn’t having a good game or is out.

[@TheRealMoCY]

Aye throw a "Mavericks Slightly beat" somewhere in the Future itd be cool

[@MarcosSarabia-qr7xt]

Do you feel his size slightly ?

[@JoshHanes-p4c]

As long as Luka gets it going by the next suns game (I’m guessing he’ll get it going before then) we’ll be fine

[@leonardo_mrll]

we may finally have a team that can survive w/o Luka... even last year ky couldnt do much when Luka was out, BUT NOW? I TRUST THEM BOYS

[@Velveteenvision]

Kyrie couldn’t do much when Luka was out last season? I feel like he played/plays even better when he is the main ball handler and has a bigger role when Luka is out or has a bad game.

[@leonardo_mrll]

@Velveteenvision mavs played 6 games last season w/o Luka and Lost 4... ky played in 4 of them and lost twice to the Memphis shitlies... that tells you how much Luka was needed on the floor even Just for how much attention It requires from defenses

[@Velveteenvision]

@@leonardo_mrll I just checked and Kyrie averaged 30 points, 6.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 10 games he played without Luka since he joined the team in 2023. He had over 40 pts in two of those games. The Mavs won 6 out of 10 of those games with Kyrie leading the way. He had two not so great games out of 10. Maybe the 4 losses over 2 seasons had to do with the role players not doing enough! For a Mavs fan to say he couldn’t do much without Luka is to be expected tho.

[@leonardo_mrll]

@@Velveteenvision i'm pretty sure that those stats comprehend the time after the trade deadline in 2023 when Kyrie and Luka couldnt win toghether but won 3 games each w/o each other... last season ky lost nearly every game without Luka aside from a win against gsw but i may be wrong. EDIT: last season ky was 4-3 without ky , the only loss that was 100% on him was the One against Memphis where he was 10pts off 20% shooting and the only game where he stepped up to pull It off was the one against new York.... basically last season w/o Luka they were a 500 team... not idial but not as bad as i remembered

[@Velveteenvision]

@@leonardo_mrll oops sorry! 11 games without Luka since he joined. Lost 4 out of 11 of them.

[@D2RGGBuilds]

I wonder what lively at the 4 would look like, with gafford at the 5. You could go 1 luka 2 kyrie 3 Thompson or luka 1 Thompson 2 pj 3.

[@Jewbacabra]

I was thinking the same but the shooting wouldnt be there cuz live isn't shooting still

[@Jewbacabra]

The defense would be suffocating cuz lively can guard the perimeter well

[@D2RGGBuilds]

@@Jewbacabra it would give lively a chance to shoot without losing out on rebounding or lob threat

[@connor_phillipz5689]

Defensively it would be incredible, but the offense would suffer greatly. Lively needs to develop a 3 ball before even considering that.

[@yasonluck.i]

I’m sorry but this excuse that Luka isn’t in basketball shape when he plays basketball more in than year than not play basketball is ridiculous. It’s Luka’s attitude tbh and shot selection that he chooses not bc he’s outta shape or bc he not ready but bc he lowkey thinks he can get away with it bc he’s so talented and it’s so annoying and painful to watch when he’s shooting the way he is rn

[@steviechampagne]

Luka started off averaging 35/9/9 last year, everyone said he was slow cause the team wasn’t winning This year his stats are lower and shooting slump and everyone says he’s out of shape. Can’t win with yall

[@yasonluck.i]

Im not saying he damaging the team but he’s clearly not providing the best he can be. and when finally the rest of the team is doing their part he chooses to take ill advised shots instead of relying on his other parts of his game when is shots not falling like his playmaking, screen setting, gravity, transition, etc.

[@BestShootermanUbz]

You’re wasting your time talking about Luka to his glazers. They will never understand.

[@PeterWilson-c3u]

@@BestShootermanUbz The Mavs are Luka's team. The issue is Kyrie is more efficient with the ball than Luka. The unspoken thing Dallas fans reluctantly want to admit is, MAYBE Kyrie is better than Luka🤯🤯🤯

[@NC-jc8wj]

@@PeterWilson-c3ukyrie is my favorite player ever and he’s not better than Luka at this point in their careers, come on. Kyrie disappeared multiple times in the playoffs, Luka did not

[@trunks727]

Instant??