NBA Game Reviews: February 1, 2021

1. Luka’s lack of success in crunch time is holding the Mavs back from being a playoff team

Few teams were expected to take a bigger jump this season than the Dallas Mavericks after the year Luka Doncic had as a Sophomore and considering Kristaps Porzingis would theoretically be healthy for most of the season. However, the Mavs have failed to string wins together and their issues in crunch time have continued. Doncic is one of the best players on the planet, but in those final minutes with the game on the line, his production significantly drops. 

Tim Hardaway has become the team’s best consistent shot-maker in the final moments as Luka often passes it off when defenses key in on him in those situations. The Mavs often find themselves staying competitive until the final possession, as they have in each of their last two battles against the Suns that have each come down to the wire. However, their best player’s inability to hit those crucial shots when the game is on the line has prevented them from walking away with victories on multiple occasions this season. 

Luka had arguably one of the greatest individual playoff performances last year when he racked up a 43-point triple-double on a bum ankle with his partner in crime unavailable and his team on the cusp of facing a 3-1 deficit if he didn’t drain an iconic buzzer-beater and come up clutch for Dallas down the stretch. As amazing as that game was, it was one of the few times where Doncic has come through multiple times in those type of occasions. 

Any Mavericks fan is obviously an admirer of Doncic as he’s an international superstar and potential next face of the entire league once LeBron retires. However, if they have been continuously watching Mavs games this year, they’ve witnessed Luka fail to make shots or instead decide to put the game in his teammate’s hands when the clock gets closer to zero. 

The Slovenian Superstar is still only 21 years old and considering King James had a ‘choker‘ label on him until he got into his 30’s, Doncic has plenty of time to develop that clutch factor and become the hero Dallas needs to make a run at the postseason in the wild, wild West. 

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