OKLAHOMA CITY – Less than three minutes into Sunday night’s 95-86 victory over Oklahoma City, Luka Dončić found himself on the left wing with the ball in his hands and the shot clock about to expire.
He reared up from 29 feet and heaved one of those 3-pointers that we’ve seen so many times before.
Swish.
And with that, the smile and the magic were back.
The wind? That’s going to take awhile.
In what Jason Kidd described as “kind of like a Christmas gift,” the Mavericks’ superstar point guard returned to action for the first time since Dec. 10.
Dončić wasn’t exactly in mint condition. He admitted to being gassed during parts of the game.
But he did have 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. And just having him, Maxi Kleber and Tim Hardaway Jr. back in uniform after their time in the NBA’s health and safety protocols was a major boost to the Mavericks at the end of a long, strange road trip.
““It was hard,” said Dončić, who played 31 minutes. “The last time I did five-on-five was, like, four weeks ago. We only did individual practices, but this was different. Weird feeling, but I’m just really happy.”
As for his conditioning, he said: “My chest was burning. The shots, I didn’t know if it was going in or out. There was one shot that felt amazing – you shot it great, it’s going to go in – and it was an airball. But that’s going to come with (more) games.
“It was a weird feeling, but happy, very happy.”
Hardaway, who came off the bench and led the Mavericks with 15 points in 24 minutes, echoed Luka’s sentiment that being knocked out of action by COVID-19 was a difficult thing from which to come back.
“My lungs could tell you better,” Hardaway said when asked how it felt to be back on the court. “I don’t wish that thing on nobody. That whole process of trying to get back in shape in a limited amount of time and getting back to playing ball the right way is going to take a couple games.
“I was down for, like, three days straight. Just didn’t want to move out of the bed. Aches and pains a little bit. But once Christmas Eve came around, symptoms went away and I started to feel better.”
Doncic said he had similar symptoms.
“Low energy, very tired all the time,” he said.
And yet, the Mavericks were able to put a cap on a 3-2 trip that started on Christmas night in Utah. They won three of the last four games on the journey and are back to .500 at 18-18 going into Monday’s home game against Denver.
“It’s big,” Kidd said. “We can sit here and say maybe we could have been 4-1. But to go 3-2 on this road trip with all the changes to the roster, I thought the guys in that locker room played hard and put us in a position to win each game on this road trip.”
There have been seven 10-day signees join the team over the last two weeks.
Against the Thunder, the Mavericks moved ahead with a defensive-minded second quarter, then fended off OKC anytime things got tight. When it was 90-86 in the final minute, Dončić found Kleber for a 3-pointer that iced the game.
Kleber was in the starting lineup with Dončić. Hardaway was in his sixth-man role as Kidd elected to continue starting Jalen Brunson, who has been on a career-best run over the past month.
That’s something we should get used to, Kidd said after the game.
“You could probably say that,” Kidd said. “It’s something we want to look at. We’ve looked at it with Jalen coming off the bench. Now we want to see how he does starting – 17 assists total for those guys. I thought they played well together. And I thought again, Jalen, his pace, he made some big shots for us. He’s someone we can rely on, so it was good.”
But this was a night to celebrate the return of Dončić.
The Mavericks still were without a bunch of players because of health and safety protocols: Trey Burke, Isaiah Thomas, Boban Marjanovic and JaQuori McLaughlin.
But they had their ace back.
“He almost had a triple double in 30 minutes,” Kidd said. “I think he’s still trying to get the feel. But being able to set the table for his teammates, he got his guys great shots. He rebounded for us. He had seven turnovers, but that’s just a feel thing. That’ll get better as we get going.”
Twitter: @ESefko
Share and comment