It’s good to see that Dwight Powell is building some chemistry with Luka Doncic. Or maybe it’s more the other way around, with Doncic building the chemistry with Powell, since Powell is more of a chemistry receiver than a chemistry creator. In any case, it’s clear that whatever marginal success that the Mavericks were going to have to close the season was going to rely on Powell catching a bunch of lobs, and with J.J. Barea dead and buried (forever), someone had to step up to help Powell throw down.
We’re not quite at the same level with Doncic that we were with Barea, but it’s unreasonable for another mortal human being to reach the level that Barea was at with regards to throwing lobs to Powell. No joke, no hyperbole, it might have been the most potent lob combo in the league. Maybe, MAYBE Ricky Rubio/Rudy Gobert was close. But those are two good players connecting for lobs. The connection Powell and Barea had transcended their own individual mediocrity (and I mean “mediocrity” in the dictionary-definition sense of “medium in quality” not the usual slightly derogative meaning) and became something amazing.
Remember, the NBA is where amazing happens. Don’t ever forget that.
Doncic was feeding Powell nonstop this game, if not for lobs, then for easy buckets at the rim. Doncic got a triple-double, but I’m not seeing much love for Powell who was the one who made it all happen. How many assists did Doncic have not to Powell? Three? Four? Certainly not even close to a triple-double worthy amount.