Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers wasn’t surprised Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic scored 73 points against the
Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 26.
“Not the way he’s shooting and the way he is,” Rivers said. “Listen, I was doing TV and before every game I got to sit with every coach and every coach started with: are we allowed to play defense anymore, and it’s hard to play defense.
“I’m not surprised in any system if Luka gets what he gets because he’s that talented.”
The 73-point explosion by Doncic tied Wilt Chamberlain and David Thompson for the fourth-most points ever in an NBA game and represents the most points anyone has scored since Kobe Bryant tallied 81 points against Toronto in 2006.
“He’s tough, just tough,” Rivers said of Doncic. “He’s a great player, and if it were easy to guard him you wouldn’t use the word great. We just would not.
“You can’t speed him up. He has amazing vision. This year, he’s shooting the ball. He’s always been a good shooter, but this year he’s become a great shooter from behind the three.”
Doncic entered Saturday’s game averaging 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.6 assists. He also is shooting 48.9 percent from the field and a career-
high 37.5 percent from three-point land.
“He’s a good three-point shooter now,” Rivers said of Doncic. “He draws fouls.
“I guess the thing you try to do is guard him without fouling. He’s going to get points.”
In Saturday’s 129-117 loss to the Bucks, Doncic was 13-of-26 from the field and finished with 40 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists in 42 minutes.
COACHES ALWAYS DEAL WITH SUPERSTARS’ MINUTES: Rivers said he has to always walk a fine line between when to play or rest his superstar players.
“I remember 1,000 years ago when I was coaching in Boston and Bill Russell said something as only Bill Russell could say,” Rivers said. “(Russell said) the key — and he made it sound simple — but he said the key is to allow a great player to be great, but make sure that great player gives everyone else an opportunity to be great as well. That’s the trick. That’s hard to do.
“Bill was very conscious of that as a player. But it is very hard to do, especially when you have a scoring great player because they tend to have the ball in their hands a lot. It’s a fine line. You know when it’s on the wrong side, I’ll tell you that.”
It’s become a real juggling act for Mavs coach Jason Kidd to know when to play superstar point guard Luka Doncic and when to get him some rest and
keep his minutes down. Especially with the Mavs having so many injuries to key players.
“I was having that discussion with him this morning,” Kidd said. “I’m telling him I’ve got to try to keep you under 40 minutes. But I did love his response. He said he hadn’t played in four days, so he said I think that I can play 48 (minutes).
“But that is a concern, because it is a long season and when you play him 43, 46 and 47 minutes and ask him to do everything offensively, and then also he’s going to be involved in a lot of plays on the defensive end, that takes a toll on you mentally and physically. We have to get healthy, we have to get some bodies back and help him, because he is the franchise. He is the one who makes this thing go.”
RIVERS HAD “A CUSH JOB” AT ESPN: After firing Adrian Griffin as their coach, the Milwaukee Bucks hired Rivers as his replacement on Jan. 26. And that even surprised Rivers, who was working as an analyst at ESPN at the time.
“I never thought I’d be taking over in midseason,” Rivers said. “I had a pretty cush job, and so honestly this came very quick. I didn’t have a lot of time to think about what comes after taking the job.
“I was thinking about I really liked the team and the organization, and I like everything they stand for and what we’re trying to do here. I thought for me with all the fits, this is probably the best fit. After that, you knew there was a lot of stuff, terminology and things and learning everybody, not only just your players but your staff and everything. There’s a different learning curve here that you have to have.”
BRIEFLY: Kyrie Irving (right thumb sprain), Dereck Lively II (nose broken) and Dante Exum (right knee bursitis) did not play against the Bucks. Lively will have a nasal procedure to repair his broken nose, and it is not known yet if he will join the Mavs at some point on their upcoming three-game road trip to Philadelphia, Brooklyn and New York. “We’ll see how Monday goes,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve got to get to the procedure first. I think that’ll be something after the procedure if he’s going to travel or not. But we got to make sure everything goes well with the procedure.” As far as Irving is concerned and when will he be available to play again, Kidd said: “Kai has had two good days of practice, so hopefully on this trip he’ll be available. I thought he looked good (Friday in practice).”. .When Tim Hardaway Jr. nailed a three-pointer with 7:11 left before halftime, it gave him 10,001 points for his career. Hardaway is the 46th NBA player to convert at least 1,500 three-pointers and score at least 10,000 points in his career. . .While he was working as an analyst for ESPN, Doc Rivers said he wasn’t thinking about the new schedules. “As an analyst, I was thinking we need to get this game over,” Rivers, now the coach of Milwaukee, said. “I’ve got a tee time tomorrow. That’s what I was thinking as an analyst. Honestly, being on the rules committee for a long time, if I’ve learned anything, every rule you change there’s an unintended consequence to the rule — meaning the 65-game thing.” Rivers is referring to the new NBA rule where players have to play at least 65 games in order to be eligible for postseason awards. It has created all sorts of controversy amongst the players. “Sounds like a great idea, and now all of a sudden maybe it is not a great idea,” Rivers said. “We’re not sure. There’s always something else. We wanted less four (games) in five (nights) and back-to-backs, so we’ve taken them away. But by doing that you’ve taken away practice times. All of those unintended, all those rules that are made for the good of the league, but sometimes we need to tweak them and figure out a better way.” Kidd said it’s important to be able to have practice. “It’s tough when you play every other day and you don’t have practice,” Kidd said. “You’re trying to rest. And then with injuries you’re just trying to be consistent. But I think when you have the opportunity to practice, to get back to the fundamentals, to work on some different things (is great). I thought yesterday’s practice was really good.”
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