Just In: Dallas Mavericks Star Luka Doncic Has Just Finish Discussion With Oklahoma City Thunder” About His New Contract….

Mavs superstar Luka Doncic faces an uncertain status against the Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back due to a left hamstring injury.

DALLAS — During the Dallas Mavericks’ 109-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors, Luka Doncic’s performance was cut short early due to left hamstring soreness.

“[Doncic] gave me the signal that his [hamstring[ was tight, so we took him out,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said after the game.

In 30 minutes, Doncic totaled 21 points, nine assists, and three rebounds against the Warriors, ending his triple-double streak that spanned seven games. He went to the locker room in the fourth quarter before the team announced that he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The Mavs closed the fourth quarter against the Warriors with Kyrie Irving leading the way, often holding a double-figure advantage and leading by as many as 18 points. Irving finished with 23 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Daniel Gafford chipped in 10 points, seven blocks, and six boards.

The Mavs will complete a back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. Kidd explained how the team is unsure if Doncic could play given how recently Doncic’s injury occurred.

“We’ll see. I know he left the game with a sore hamstring,” Kidd said about Doncic’s status. “We’ll have a better answer tomorrow.”

When Kidd addressed the media, he wasn’t sure if Doncic would travel to Oklahoma City due to his injury. Kidd described the situation as “fluid,” with the team discussing it while he was at the podium.

“I’ll have a better answer tomorrow. We’ll see. This is a fluid thing,” Kidd said of Doncic. “This is being talked about now. We’ll find out in a couple of minutes if he’s going or not.”

Doncic has averaged 34.3 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.0 rebounds in 58 games this season. He is coming off an impressive stretch that resulted in being named the Western Conference Player of the Week and is the reigning Western Conference Player of the Month.

Trying to find consistent sources of offense was definitely the number-one problem tonight against the Dallas Mavericks. In several ways, tonight served as proof that perhaps the best defense is a functioning offense.

This is a “duh” statement, but the Golden State Warriors’ offense simply does not function as well without Steph Curry in there to function as its fulcrum. Add the absence of Draymond Green and the Warriors were faced with a massive mountain from the get-go against the Mavs, who had Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving at their disposal.

Despite the absence of Green, the Warriors did an excellent job limiting the Mavs to an offensive rating of 102.1 — the equivalent of the best defense in the NBA. But they failed to take advantage of their stops on the other end, as evidenced by their even-worse offensive rating in the first half: 89.4.

There’s only so much they can do without Curry. Ballscreen actions for Chris Paul are low-hanging fruit, but the Warriors aren’t built to be a ballscreen-heavy offense. Klay Thompson can generate advantages himself, especially off the ball on pindowns and staggered screens, but his limited on-ball value places a limit on his ability to be the first or even second option, especially if teams sit on the advantages he tries to create (as the Mavs were able to do tonight, to their credit).

Jonathan Kuminga can score himself, but his ability to do so still banks on a spaced floor — and the Warriors without Curry simply don’t present much of a spacing threat in half-court situations.

As much of a problem as offense was tonight, I want to focus on defense, specifically on coverage decisions the Warriors made against Dončić and Irving. While the numbers in the first half painted a picture of an elite defensive showing, the Mavs alsoposted great numbers on defense that sort of canceled things out.

When both teams are stopping each other on defense, the minute details become much more important: coverage decisions, advantages created, and help rotations that are forced because of them (or aren’t forced). While both teams did a good job defending each other in the first half, it was the Mavs who did slightly more on offense to get the edge.

The first possession that caught my eye: the Warriors deciding to place two defenders on the ball against Dončić around a ballscreen, which means he’s forced to give up possession of the ball — at the expense of opening up the short roll, creating a backline advantage (or disadvantage from the Warriors’ point of view), and forcing help decisions:

The Warriors are comfortable with this coverage because of Trayce Jackson-Davis being the low man. He probably needed to be pinched in earlier to dissuade Daniel Gafford from getting to the rim easily; not pinching in defeats the purpose of his role and why he was tasked to guard Derrick Jones Jr. in the corner. But this is what happens as a consequence of the coverage choice up top — when you choose to put two on the ball, you’re forced to shore things up behind it.