The Dallas Mavericks are mired in mediocrity, which is where many expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to be. But so much for predictions.
Despite incredible play by the offensive genius Luka Doncic, the .500 Mavs are having trouble transforming themselves into something more than a show called Luka Magic and the Assistants — and in this case, the Magician’s assistants don’t seem to know all the tricks.
The Mavs will strive to get better — either by trade or by effort — but for now Doncic too often has to answer the question no ballplayer wants to hear: “What went wrong tonight?”
Luka Doncic addresses the media following the 105-90 loss to the Cavs. #MFFL | @dallasmavs on @BallySportsSW 📺 pic.twitter.com/zLey93JZVn
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) December 15, 2022
After the Mavs lost to the Cavaliers, Doncic had no problem answering that one of the things that went wrong was the power of the opponent. The Cavaliers have parlayed the addition of the dynamic Donovan Mitchell into an 18-11 start and third place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
And Doncic, while acknowledging the Mavs’ tough outing, heaped praise on the Cavs whom he called “a great team.”
Doncic called out three separate Cavaliers players by name and made special note to shout out 25-year-old Lamar Stevens, a 6’6″ forward undrafted out of Penn State who impressed Doncic with his strength. Doncic said, “They’re a really good team…Stevens is really strong and big.”
Doncic continued: “Then on the offense, Darius (Garland) and Mitchell, they’re gonna do their own thing so I think they have a pretty big team and a great team.” (Mitchell had 34 points.) Doncic then called the Cavs an “amazing team.” Really good, great, amazing — that’s some high praise for the Cavs from Doncic.
Cleveland players and coaches agree with Doncic, both about Stevens and the team. As you can see below, all Cavs did was play “Cleveland Cavaliers basketball” to get the win, right “from the jump.” And Stevens got the Big C on a chain.
Played Cavaliers Basketball tonight.🐶 @ThatsJared | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/YooYLxF7s8
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 15, 2022
