FIRST TAKE | Kyrie lift Luka Doncic as the best player – Stephen A Smith on Mavs def Rockets 136-125

FIRST TAKE | Kyrie lift Luka Doncic as the best player – Stephen A Smith on Mavs def Rockets 136-125

30 points 16 assists 11 rebounds on his 25th birthday becoming the first player in league history to record a 30-point triple double on his bday so happy birthday Luca wishing you all the best ESS how deep do you think this Mavs team can go in the playoffs you I don’t think

You were here that day but Tim legler is super high on them I think they got a chance um I’m not going to say it’s definitive of course um I got to see the others produc but I believe in Luca donic and I believe in Kyrie Irving and

And and listen you know we we know how critical I’ve been of Kyrie Irving in the past because of off court stuff certainly nothing on the court because on the court I think he’s spectacular but this brother has been doing it um you know with lucer averaging over 34

And damn near triple double Wy we’ve been talking about Luca as we should and there is no doubt about that but I would like to remind the world that that this season I mean you got Kyrie averaging about 27 I mean it ain’t like LCA be average dropping 40 plus and Kyrie’s

Averaging you know throwing up eight or 10 points I mean this brother is on the on the floor putting on a show on a continuous basis and if Kyrie and Luca continue to play like that and feed off of one another offensively as we expected them to then who’s to say you

Can rule out anything because I got news for you Tim Hardway Jr is no scrub Derek Lively Derek Lively can play you know what saying I like what I see from him and you know Josh green and others you see some of the pieces I’m impressed

With it Dallas got a chance and of course they got exceptionally well coached by Jason kit I would say put a highlighter on them on the on the standings because they’re maybe the most intriguing team to watch between now and the end of the regular season last night

Kyrie Luca’s always going to get the headlines last night Kyrie had 25 points for his seventh consecutive game they’re 8-2 in their last 10 and one of the losses was the 60-footer max stru threw in two nights ago in Cleveland okay this team is rolling and as you said LC at I

Think you just moved past that and I don’t know if people picked up what you said he’s basically averaging a 35o triple double in the last 10 games 35 Point triple double is basically what he’s at like that’s something to pay attention to yeah he’s just listen LCA Luca

Special no doubt about we’ve seen it but Kyrie wow let me roll folks uh coming up is it a it’s collapse a reason to be concerned for the Clippers yes I do only from the standpoint of their inability to protect the basketball being turn over prone and not having an answer for

The onslaught that the Lakers threw at them these are the kind of things that cost you championships these are the kind of things when do you know this they actually happen in the postseason you know teams are going to make their runs we get all of that but you got a

21-point lead on the Lakers and I know they were making shots but what’s your excuse for turning the ball over one play after another after another and looking so incredibly sloppy that’s a different animal altogether if it’s a tight spot but you just can’t stop somebody because they’re making shots

Then we get all of that we understand that and we and we accept it for what it is that’s not what this was about with the Los Angeles Clippers it was about an inability for you to protect the basketball and be cohesive in the past

We looked at them Wendy and what did we say well they don’t really have a point guard well that’s not the case now they do and still you fell apart and that is what I’m talking I’m not talking about LeBron James making his shots that’s a different animal that can happen against

Any defense but what’s your excuse to have a 21o lead and literally you can’t hold on to the basketball it was one turnover after another after another they looked sloppy they looked Shook and to have that in your last in your last home game in that Arena against the

Lakers Squad that had already beaten you twice this year I find very very alarming again I don’t believe that would have happened if Paul George was on the basketball court with the rest of the crew because I think that he along with pal would have found a way to stop

The bleeding but it did alarm me that kawh Leonard was nowhere to be found in terms of providing an answer that worried me and I said wait a minute something is wrong with this picture right here that’s exactly the point that I took away from this I the reason I’m so

Optimistic about the Clippers this year is because of how great Kawai has been he has been vintage Kawai for most of this year he was nowhere to be found when it came playmaking time last night and there was one game in February but that’s a big factor and by the way we’re

Talking about these threes LeBron made LeBron was busting it on on the defensive end last night too including guarding kawhai on the last possession I don’t know what he’s going to have left in the tank for the Wizards tonight I kind of think they probably you don’t

Need anything in the tank for Wiz he he can throw me and you out there to beat The Wiz they got to get ready for Saturday night you guys got the nuggets on ABC that’s the big one we go Courtside by the way court side we’ll be

Courtside we won’t even be in studio we’ll be on the court off for NBA Countdown oh so you’re trying to say that it counts yes when the Nuggets face the Lakers no it counts cuz I’m in the building yeah that’s what I mean you know I don’t I don’t I don’t I don’t

Suffer I don’t suffer you’re going back to LA I’m not I’m not going to watch somebody that that plays like me I need I need people that are better you understand I’m saying that’s why I’m going to that game you’re going back to LA well yes I am get you a by Coastal

Big time nothing like that all right let’s stay in the west guys got for it luk playing any defense and all they did was turn the ball over in the first half yeah it just seems like you know with this group they still don’t have their their stuff together and it’s it’s

Weird because it’s like you know um we’ve been together a few months it’s after Allstar break we should be like clockwork and it still seems like they have no idea where each other should be what each other wants to do you know and it’s weird because you watch the

Clippers and they look like they’re in motion I mean they had what some points in the first half and it’s like that’s how we should be right now and the fact that we we’re still in this I might be traded phase is is it’s it’s sad to see

But we got the win so that’s all that matters yeah man ruy has been played well since he started been inserted into the starting lineup he gave him big minutes tonight hu huge buckets uh Anthony Davis is doing what Anthony Davis does challenging everything at The Rim giving you uh double digit rebounds

On a nightly basis only had 20 points but he only had 15 uh 15 shot attempts DLo has been playing unbelievable Austin Reed has been Austin Reed steady steady steady we didn’t get great production Off the Bench but we got enough uh because you needed something Norman

Power had 14 for the Clippers Off the Bench Russ had 18 and Mason plumbley had 18 PJ Tucker got some great cardio in tonight he was a zero across the board with the exception of two rebounds uh so you got 30 points off the you got 30

Points off the clippers bench and the Lakers had they only got 14 but they really needed uh cam Rish played some really solid defense but the story of the night was LeBron and we’ve been waiting for him to have one of these virtuosos where we know he can take the

Game over because if you followed him at any point in time through his illustrious 21-year career you know he still has these in and I know they don’t come with the the regularity that they did early in his career say the first 10 years or maybe year uh 11 through 16 but

He has it in him and when they needed it tonight he got it going in the fourth quarter Gil what did you see and how was he able to get it going I didn’t see I was on a freeway Drive in here I gotta watch the replay

But that’s what make greats great right when when you really need to turn it on and you they you really need them to perform at a high level they can tap into it no matter how old they are when we needed Dwight Howard in that um in that bubble against Denver his greatness

Defensively showed right you know when you’re talking about towards the end of the season going into the playoffs the the greats don’t need to be great every single time especially at his age he just needs to be great when we needed him to and tonight it seems like that’s

What he did while my ass is on the freeway you know what and you’re right Gil what the great can do although they can’t summon it up with the with the regularity they once could when they were younger pause I know everybody going to say what you mean summons it up

They still can do it and that’s what you have to be careful of because we saw Kobe even though he shot the ball as many times he did given his final game he got the 60 yeah that lets you know he still had it in there and he could still

Reach down into that reserve and pull it out I don’t know if we it’s been a while since we’ve seen LeBron James shoot the ball this well not only from twoo range but from three spe fore fore foree foree fore fore out for fore foree for oh it feel foree speee speech fore

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FIRST TAKE | Kyrie lift Luka Doncic as the best player this year – Stephen A. Smith on Mavs def. Rockets 136-125

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