Doncic won and made history, Ambid: "We had to defeat them"
Slovenian tenth in triple-doubles all-time, Philadelphia center upset after loss.
And also: the crooked basket that helped Dallas "arrange the defense"
Walla!
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05/02/2022
Saturday, 05 February 2022, 11:35
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Washington is training with coach Wes Ansald Jr. who has left the Corona Protocol (the Wizards' official website)
Two of the big stars in the NBA, Luka Doncic and Joel Ambide, met tonight (Friday-Saturday) for a particularly intriguing battle, which ended in the Slovenian's 98-10 victory over Dallas over Philadelphia.
The Mavericks continue to narrow gaps from the fourth Utah in the West, while the Sixers meanwhile have dropped to fifth place in the East and suffered a second straight loss in 2022.
More on Walla!
Seventh consecutive loss to Brooklyn, triple-double to Doncic vs. Ambide
To the full article
Luka Doncic, who is passionate with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists, made a private history when he entered the top ten list with a triple-double number 44 in his career.
Out of the top ten he pushed Pat Lieber, and is now the fifth active player in the top 10, after Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Nikola Jukic and James Harden.
Unlike the previous two seasons, when he was selected for the West's top five at Allstar, this time Doncic had to settle for a place among the substitutes, but he also learned to appreciate that: "I'm Allstar, and I do not take it for granted."
The odd moment in the game occurred in the middle of the first quarter, when the ring of one of the baskets warped.
After Mavericks center Boban Marianovic, for all his 221 inches, failed to straighten the ring, the entire basket had to be replaced and this caused a 44-minute delay in the resumption of play.
Not an event you see every day.
Basket Replacement in Dallas (Photo: GettyImages, Richard Rodriguez)
For the Texas host, the forced break was "the time we could settle our defense," according to Reggie Bullock who scored two critical threes in the final quarter.
Rarely did the Mavericks move to play regional defense, and it paid off on the way back to the winning streak after surprising stumbles against Orlando and Oklahoma City.
"We didn't play regional defense all season," Doncic said. "It was amazing to see the players talk to each other on defense. When you speak, you're going to be excellent defensively, and that's what we did tonight."
The coach, Jason Kidd, also complimented the way his team reacted back from the prolonged delay: "Understanding that the game is not decided in our favor or against us in the first few minutes after the return shows how much character there is in this squad."
This is not how he wanted to mark the 300th game.
Ambide (Photo: GettyImages, Richard Rodriguez)
The Sixers, on the other hand, saw how this method of defense stopped them, and not for the first time this season.
"Several times this season we're bad against regional defense, we have to find ways to attack, probably after this game," said Seth Kerry.
Joel Ambed, who tonight played his 300th game of his career and provided another impressive stat line of 27 points and 13 rebounds, was a little more nervous: "We had to defeat them, let them stay alive."
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NBA
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Joel Ambide
Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic
Philadelphia Sixers