Luka is taking a beating...

[liam]

The media has hyped Luka up to be the best player in the world and now they are tearing him down. He's still the same player. His team isn't as good as the Celtics. Luka has played well offensively. That's all he's ever done. They need to build a team and system to hide his weaknesses and let him work less on the offensive end so he has something left for some defense. Surprisingly Kyrie avoids any flack for his terrible D and bad first two games because he won a ring with LeBron as the best player on his team. The media saw this series and the match up all wrong and now they are blaming Luka! They were dumping on Tatum too the first two games even though  the Celtics were winning. What a fickle bunch of money hungry folks just trying to drive traffic.

[celticinorlando]

He?s nothing more than a Euro James harden

[Surferdad]

The media has hyped Luka up to be the best player in the world and now they are tearing him down. He's still the same player. His team isn't as good as the Celtics. Luka has played well offensively. That's all he's ever done. They need to build a team and system to hide his weaknesses and let him work less on the offensive end so he has something left for some defense. Surprisingly Kyrie avoids any flack for his terrible D and bad first two games because he won a ring with LeBron as the best player on his team. The media saw this series and the match up all wrong and now they are blaming Luka! They were dumping on Tatum too the first two games even though  the Celtics were winning. What a fickle bunch of money hungry folks just trying to drive traffic.

This is the national media MO. They are fickle because they don?t want to admit they were wrong. They HAVE TO constantly pivot depending on which team has the momentum, even within a single game. They don't care about being consistent. They think their cheering for the winner makes TV watchers happy.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Suddenly they forget that Luka is playing injured. Not that it would matter, but...

[Kernewek]

The media has hyped Luka up to be the best player in the world and now they are tearing him down. He's still the same player. His team isn't as good as the Celtics. Luka has played well offensively. That's all he's ever done. They need to build a team and system to hide his weaknesses and let him work less on the offensive end so he has something left for some defense. Surprisingly Kyrie avoids any flack for his terrible D and bad first two games because he won a ring with LeBron as the best player on his team. The media saw this series and the match up all wrong and now they are blaming Luka! They were dumping on Tatum too the first two games even though  the Celtics were winning. What a fickle bunch of money hungry folks just trying to drive traffic.

To crib a famous saying, fans get the media coverage that they deserve.

[Roy H.]

I give Luka a ton of credit.  He's good enough to carry a team without a ton of talent to the NBA Finals.

But, this series is his wake up call.  Is he satisfied being a perennial MVP candidate, or does he want to become a champion?  The talent is there.

If he dropped 15 pounds or so and was competitive on defense, he'd finish with multiple titles.

[Kernewek]

I give Luka a ton of credit.  He's good enough to carry a team without a ton of talent to the NBA Finals.

But, this series is his wake up call.  Is he satisfied being a perennial MVP candidate, or does he want to become a champion?  The talent is there.

If he dropped 15 pounds or so and was competitive on defense, he'd finish with multiple titles.

On the other hand, not even LeBron can carry a team to a title on his own, and Luka isn't the next LeBron.

[Celtics2021]

I give Luka a ton of credit.  He's good enough to carry a team without a ton of talent to the NBA Finals.

But, this series is his wake up call.  Is he satisfied being a perennial MVP candidate, or does he want to become a champion?  The talent is there.

If he dropped 15 pounds or so and was competitive on defense, he'd finish with multiple titles.

On the other hand, not even LeBron can carry a team to a title on his own, and Luka isn't the next LeBron.

True, but I think the Mavs have substantially more talent than the 2007-2010 Cavs.  I do think the Celtics still beat the Mavs regardless with an improved Luka, but it would be more competitive.

[Moranis]

The Mavs were +9 with Luka on the floor yesterday.  -16 in the 10 minutes he was on the bench. 

Also, it isn't the Mavs defense that is the biggest problem. They've held Boston under 108 all 3 games.  That happened just 12 times in the regular season and Boston was 4-8 in those games.  Happened more frequently in the playoffs as they were 4-2 in those games entering the Finals.  Dallas simply isn't scoring enough, especially without Luka on the floor.  And that is because Dallas just doesn't have enough talent surrounding him.  Even Kyrie only shows up every 3rd game or so and he is the worst defender on the team.  Dallas needs a consistent scorer from the 4 or 5 position.  A guy that can stretch the floor and has a versatile offensive game.

[liam]

The Mavs were +9 with Luka on the floor yesterday.  -16 in the 10 minutes he was on the bench. 

Also, it isn't the Mavs defense that is the biggest problem. They've held Boston under 108 all 3 games.  That happened just 12 times in the regular season and Boston was 4-8 in those games.  Happened more frequently in the playoffs as they were 4-2 in those games entering the Finals.  Dallas simply isn't scoring enough, especially without Luka on the floor.  And that is because Dallas just doesn't have enough talent surrounding him.  Even Kyrie only shows up every 3rd game or so and he is the worst defender on the team.  Dallas needs a consistent scorer from the 4 or 5 position.  A guy that can stretch the floor and has a versatile offensive game.

If they had traded Kyrie for Jrue in the Summer it'd be a much better team. Brad was so smart to make that move!

[Csfan1984]

I agree, a lot of hate for a guy who struggles on defense when he has always struggled. They loved him before they were down 0-3. They loved KI too. Neither player has under performed based on who I thought they were. The love then hate shows how much the media can bandwagon.

Last night the three point shot was probably the biggest stat difference.

86 shots, only 25 threes on 44fg/36fg

C's were 82 shots, 46 threes on 47fg/37fg


Only playoff losses C's have taken this year were against epic three point performances. If Dallas is going to win they have go bombs away from three (40 attempts min) and hit 40%+.

[cman88]

he's basically White Harden....prove me wrong

[Roy H.]

he's basically White Harden....prove me wrong

He's made the Finals?

[Who]

he's basically White Harden....prove me wrong

He's made the Finals?

Yup. Luka has already surpassed Harden and is still 25yo and is only getting started.

Plus, Harden has a bunch of no-show performances in the playoffs. Especially in big games. Especially in Houston during his best years. If Harden showed up in those big games, he wouldn't get as much grief as he gets / got. Luka shows up in big games.

[BudweiserCeltic]

he's basically White Harden....prove me wrong

I'd say Luka is a superior shot maker. Plus he's vastly superior in the playoffs and mentally tougher, in this regard is not even close and in the scheme of things that matters too much.

In fact, with all his in season accomplishments, is even hard to argue that Harden was even a good player considering that he basically did nothing throughout his whole career in the playoffs. And I'm not even talking about winning or losing, but just showing up to play.