What was supposed to be a simple high five turned into a warm embrace. Luka Doncic And Kyrie Irving ended the game like this, arm in arm. The two men had just made a colossal effort to overcome the Rockets.
Houston players who, in this Texas derby, had taken a 15-point lead at the end of the first quarter and increased the gap to 22 points in the second quarter. “ We were in the locker room at halftime wondering what we were going to do to get back into the game. When they took a 22-point lead, we looked at each other. […] It's only a regular season game, but we know what position we're in. “, reports Kyrie Irving.
In this case, in a position to qualify directly for the playoffs, and even to tickle the Clippers to reach 4th place in the conference.
And the home advantage in the event of a likely clash between the two teams. But before these future deadlines, we had to fight to return to this part and overcome the Rockets obstacle.
A feat to equalize
Mainly thanks to the scoring of its two star players, Dallas got back together, but without ever managing to get ahead sustainably. So much so that with eight seconds remaining, Jabari Smith Jr. found himself with the decision in his hands. But while his team was already leading by three points, the interior was unable to convert its throws, to give it two possessions in advance.
His double miss opened the way for the action of the evening where Dante Exum raised the leather, passed to Luka Doncic, who returned the ball to him for the equalizing shot at the buzzer. In overtime, Kyrie Irving will continue his festival initiated earlier in the match, particularly in the fourth quarter (19 points!). With an impressive variety of moves to make your way to the basket or score in fadeaway in the heart of the racket.
“ Almost all defensive adjustments are predictable […] And when Luka is taken in two, it gives me opportunities to attack with the number on the other side. When I have the ball and I don't see anyone coming to take me two, that's the time to be aggressive. My teammates kept feeding me, and I had a matchup tonight, so I continued to enjoy it », Describes the 32-year-old player, who thus “abused” Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green.
Very tired at the end
An aggressiveness that was necessary because Luka Doncic voluntarily stepped back during this extension. Cut off the ball by Dillon Brooks, the Slovenian even stayed away from the game, at the halfway line. “ I stood there and he did his thing », Describes Luka Doncic. An attitude also linked to his state of fatigue, illustrated by his body language (head down).
“ At the end of the match, Luka said: 'I'm tired, man.' That's why I hugged him. He left everything on the field and did everything he could. It was one of those 'in the moment' things for us, being brothers, to hug each other. We know how hard we worked and how much work it took to get to this point in the season. “, continues Kyrie Irving, himself “ exhausted “.
With this extension, the two men had to stay on the floor for 45 minutes. Time for Kyrie Irving to set his season record with 48 points (15/25 on shots, 15/17 on shots) and 7 rebounds, while his partner scored 37 points (12/21), 12 assists (but 7 lost balls) and 9 rebounds. It was the third time this season that they together scored at least 35 points in the same game.
“ The chemistry is excellent, we are on a good path at the moment », simply comments Luka Doncic, without dwelling on the embrace with his teammate. Their collective dynamic is sufficiently telling: 14 victories in their last 16 outings!
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Luka Doncic | 67 | 37.4 | 48.6 | 38.2 | 78.3 | 0.8 | 8.4 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 33.8 |
| Kyrie Irving | 55 | 34.7 | 49.3 | 41.1 | 91.0 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 25.4 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 74 | 27.4 | 40.3 | 35.7 | 85.6 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 14.9 |
| Pj Washington | 25 | 32.6 | 42.8 | 32.7 | 63.0 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 12.1 |
| Daniel Gafford | 25 | 21.8 | 75.2 | 0.0 | 62.7 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 11.0 |
| Derek Lively II | 55 | 23.5 | 74.7 | 0.0 | 50.6 | 2.5 | 4.4 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 8.8 |
| Derrick Jones | 72 | 23.5 | 48.2 | 34.5 | 71.5 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 8.7 |
| Josh Green | 54 | 26.6 | 49.3 | 40.1 | 67.3 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 8.5 |
| Grant Williams | 47 | 26.4 | 41.3 | 37.6 | 74.5 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 8.1 |
| Dante Exum | 51 | 19.7 | 54.4 | 50.0 | 77.3 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.0 |
| Jaden Hardy | 68 | 13.4 | 40.8 | 36.4 | 76.6 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 7.2 |
| Dexter Dennis | 4 | 7.5 | 52.6 | 12.5 | 33.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Seth Curry | 36 | 12.7 | 37.2 | 36.3 | 89.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 4.3 |
| Maxi Kleber | 39 | 20.3 | 40.7 | 32.1 | 67.6 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 4.2 |
| Richaun Holmes | 23 | 10.3 | 55.9 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.4 |
| Dwight Powell | 61 | 12.9 | 68.3 | 50.0 | 70.8 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 3.3 |
| Aj Lawson | 38 | 6.8 | 47.0 | 30.2 | 61.9 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| Markieff Morris | 22 | 7.9 | 37.0 | 38.2 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Greg Brown III | 6 | 6.6 | 45.5 | 33.3 | 44.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Olivier-maxence Prosper | 36 | 7.3 | 34.7 | 23.5 | 67.6 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| Brandon Williams | 13 | 4.6 | 34.8 | 28.6 | 54.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.8 |
