Luka Doncic is dead. There is no getting around that unpleasant fact. He may have looked like he was alive when he was “walking” off the court and into the locker room, but he was actually dead, and the movements people saw were similar to what happens when you cut the head off a chicken. My locker room sources have confirmed the termination of all vital functions. It was fun while it lasted, folks, but good things don’t last forever. The Mavericks have to move forward without him, even as they built their entire identity and gameplan around his singularly unique talents.
If this game is anything to go by, maybe Dallas has a chance. Things were looking bad in the first half, as they could barely see the rim through the sorrowful tears that ran down their faces, but they pulled themselves together and made the Heat really work for this win in overtime. Once the shock of Doncic’s passing wears off, there should be enough talented buried in the little-used nooks and crannies of the roster (I’m thinking Boban Marjanovic here) to keep their playoff hopes not just alive, but strong.
Tim Hardaway Jr. is now pretty much the number one banana on offense. Euro homers may claim that it is Kristaps Porzingis who is the number one banana, but they are wrong. Porzingis is great, but he needs to be set up way too much to be a true first option. Hardaway can do stuff by himself with ease, while also being able to settle into a complementary role when he needed to (like when Doncic was around).
I am seriously regretting reinstating him on my channel right now, by the way. I’m talking a big game about how good he is on offense, but that wasn’t actually the case until the very second when I said “yeah, I could make Hardaway vids again, he sorta sucks and the Euro chuck bros are taking all his shots”.