Unlikely: Mavericks Talented Star Rejected For 2024 MVP….

The Oklahoma City Thunder will face off with a short-handed squad for the third straight time to conclude the regular season on Sunday as Dallas will rest their stars.

While there is still a lot to be decided in the NBA Playoff picture, the matchup that is certain is the Dallas Mavericks battling the L.A. Clippers for the third time in the postseason. While the rest of the West shifts around them, those two squads are pegged as the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup in the Western Conference.

With the matchup locked in, the Dallas Mavericks have elected to give their star duo, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, the next two games off as the Mavericks battle the Pistons in Game 81 and Thunder in Game 82 without their leading scorers.

The Dallas Mavericks have ruled out Luka Doncic (left ankle soreness), Kyrie Irving (left hamstring soreness), and Dereck Lively II (right knee sprain) against the Detroit Pistons. Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) April 12, 2024
On the other hand, the Oklahoma City Thunder can still climb the Western Conference table, with their floor being set as the third seed in the Payoff picture, with some help they could be as high as the best in the West.

However, throughout the week the Thunder has been no stranger to getting rotational mainstays rest. Lu Dort sat out against the Spurs for that very reason and Chet Holmgren only made a first-half cameo and Josh Giddey (Hip) did not play in Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

It is unclear if the Thunder will rest players in their season finale, a lot will be determined by Friday’s results around the association, but with a full week off before game one of the NBA playoffs and the week off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams had just a week ago, the duo might just finish out the regular season unlike their Mavericks counterparts.

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DALLAS — Luka Doncic has enjoyed a tremendous season, yet he still is not the favorite to win the MVP award. Dallas Mavericks fans want Doncic to win the MVP and Doncic’s teammates recently wore shirts to support his MVP case. Doncic, however, has placed his focus on winning and helping his teammates improve on the floor. With the Mavericks hosting the Detroit Pistons on Friday, both head coaches had nothing but positive things to say about Doncic.

Pistons head coach Monty Williams knows Doncic’s game well after previously coaching the Phoenix Suns, who are one of Doncic and the Mavericks’ Western Conference rivals. Williams explained one area of Doncic’s game that has stood out aside from the Mavs star’s scoring prowess and dropped an eye-opening comparison.

“I mean, he’s always been unreal scoring the ball,” Williams said of Doncic. “The thing that stands out to me is his ability to play at his own pace, pass on time, on target. I think that’s something that, when you have the ball that much making those timely passes against the best defenders, the best defenses and doing it every night at a high, high level while scoring like that is unreal. That combination. And then being able to do it with another guy on the floor who can also put up 30 (Kyrie Irving) and still have those numbers and efficiency. I wouldn’t say that’s an improvement it’s just an amazing thing to be able to do every night. That’s what I see with him.”

“He’s always been able to score the ball, but the passing is just phenomenal. And the pass is always on target. You try your best to put big guys in the space to compliment your pick-and-roll coverage. You run different defenses at him, you’re just hoping that he messes up because he’s just that good. I just think he’s that unique… He reminds me of Magic in that way. Those guys are big and have great vision. Playing at their own pace, understood everybody around them. I’m not into the comparison thing, but when you think of big guards who dominated like that, that’s probably one of the reasons I didn’t get a lot of sleep when I was in the West going up against that dude a lot.”