Double-duo extravaganza: Mavs-Lakers square off in star-studded matchup of new-look teams
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Jason Kidd has played and coached in four NBA Finals. He’s played with and against numerous stars and is himself a Naismith Hall of Famer.
Sunday afternoon’s ABC-televised Mavericks-Lakers matchup in American Airlines Center is, Western Conference standings-wise, merely a regular-season game between sixth-place Dallas and 13th-place Los Angeles, but Kidd is keenly aware of the extra sizzle.
“Yeah,” he said. “There’s stars on both teams.”
As in plural. On both teams.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis vs. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
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Oh how the Mavericks franchise has longed for this day, when its side of the marquee could boast two genuine A-listers. Team governor Mark Cuban once called Kristaps Porzingis a “bona fide superstar”, but that was a stretch, even when 7-3 Porzingis stood on tiptoes.
When Dallas on Feb. 6 acquired Irving from Brooklyn, beating out the likes of the Lakers and Clippers and Suns to get him, it without question thrust the Mavericks into the realm of super-duo teams — while also breaking up the Nets’ Irving-Kevin Durant tandem.
During his first news conference in Dallas, Irving said he doesn’t like “duo” because it’s become a watered-down NBA term and leaves out players who do dirty work like screen-setting that “helps us be great.
“But obviously when you’re playing off somebody that has the consistency to score the ball, play-make and really challenge the defense to make adjustments like Luka does,” Irving added, “then we are obviously a force together to be reckoned with.”
James and Davis joined forces in the summer of 2019 with the blockbuster trade of Davis from New Orleans to LA.
With Kidd serving as an assistant coach, the Lakers went 52-19 in that first COVID-19 shortened season, winning the NBA title in the Orlando bubble.
But in the ensuing three seasons the Lakers are 103-111 and haven’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs, showing that having a super-duo guarantees nothing. For affirmation, just ask the Clippers, Sixers and Nets.
Part of the Lakers’ failure to build on that 2020 championship has been Davis’ inability to remain healthy.
Sunday’s game is the third of the season between Dallas and the Lakers. Both meetings were memorable, with the Mavericks outscoring Los Angeles 51-21 in the third quarter of their comeback win on Christmas Day in AAC; and Dallas’ 119-115 double-overtime victory in Staples Center on Jan. 12.
Davis didn’t play in either game. Last season Davis played in only one of three meetings against Dallas. In the Lakers’ eight games against Dallas the past three seasons, only twice have both Davis and James taken the court.
Assuming James and Davis play Sunday (both are listed as probable with foot injuries), AAC fans will be treated to a rare double super-duo matchup. Like the Mavericks, the Lakers are in the early aftermath of major trades, having acquired D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt, although Russell is doubtful for Sunday with a right ankle sprain.
Two weeks after James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the No. 1 scorer in NBA history, the Lakers have looked impressive in winning their last two games and three of their last four, with two victories coming over Golden State.
“They’ve got the greatest to ever play in LeBron,” Kidd said. “The Lakers are a different team with the trades. Beasley shoots the three well. Russ is able to score as a point guard. Vanderbilt is a guy who does all the dirty work for them. And AD is one of the top players in the league.
“They’re playing well. This is going to be a good test for us.”
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Irving and Doncic have only played three games together, but the Mavericks are seeing obvious early benefits of getting Doncic the offensive help for which fans had clamored.
In the 76 minutes in which Doncic and Irving have shared the court, Dallas has an offensive rating of 128.2 and a defensive rating of 113.4.
Instead of always having to dribble, dribble, dribble to create shots for himself, Doncic has been able to catch and shoot or attack off the catch because of the defensive attention that Irving commands.
Kidd noted that against San Antonio on Thursday, Doncic had a wide-open catch-and-shoot 3-pointer in the half-court set, a rare phenomenon for the NBA’s leading scorer.
“Before Kai, he might have had two or three [opportunities all season] where he could catch and go,” Kidd said of Doncic. “I think the other night he might have had eight.
“It’s just a different game for him, to be able to catch and shoot or catch and run with it.”
And during periods of the game when Doncic is resting, primarily the first six minutes of the second and fourth quarters, the Mavericks no longer sink like a rock tossed into a lake, thanks to the buoyancy Irving provides.
As AAC fans and the national TV audience enjoy Sunday’s clash of super-duos, though, there’s the subplot of Irving’s potential summer free agency.
Before and immediately after the trade deadline and during All-Star weekend, James and Irving expressed their mutual admiration, all but cooing and exchanging goo-goo eyes.
Should Mavericks fans be concerned that the franchise’s long-awaited double-star billing might be short-lived? Probably best not to dwell on that, yet, and enjoy Sunday for what it is, a rare double-duo extravaganza in Dallas.
Twitter: @Townbrad
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