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NEW YORK – Luka Doncic got here into Madison Sq. Backyard immediately carrying a Philadelphia Eagles jersey – a fee on a misplaced wager to his former teammate, Jalen Brunson, whom he and the Mavericks confronted for the primary time right here Saturday afternoon since Brunson signed with the Knicks as a free agent within the offseason.
“No, it wasn’t,” Doncic mentioned when requested if he loved paying off his wager.
That, nevertheless, was one of many few issues Doncic didn’t get pleasure from about his day, because the Mavericks obliterated Brunson and the Knicks within the second half, outscoring New York 69-40 to tug away and declare a 121-100 win over their former teammate and his new squad.
“You have to ask them,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd mentioned when requested if dealing with Brunson was any type of motivating issue for his gamers. “I believe they have been with him 4 years, these guys in that locker room. They’ll miss him. These are associates in that locker room that he hangs out with in the summertime, and he has an in depth bond with a few them. I do not know in the event that they had been attempting to indicate they will do it with out him, however he is on the opposite aspect, so he is the enemy this afternoon and so they wished to do every thing they might to sluggish him down.”
It definitely was mission completed on that entrance within the second half, because the Mavericks torched the Knicks within the third quarter, specifically, outscoring them 41-15 to take what had been a aggressive, however sleepy, early afternoon matinee for the opening 24 minutes and switch it right into a rout that noticed Kidd empty his bench for a lot of the fourth quarter, permitting rookie Jaden Hardy to get his first NBA basket in consequence.
That occurred due to Doncic (19 factors) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (17 factors) each outscoring New York by themselves within the third quarter, a part of a barrage of 3-pointers (24-for-61 on the day) that proved far an excessive amount of for the Knicks to beat. Because of this, New York misplaced for the sixth time in eight video games, and is now simply 4-7 via its first 11 video games right here at MSG.
“I might say I used to be upset,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned of his group’s efficiency. “The missed pictures, you possibly can cope with … [they] are a part of the sport. You possibly can stay with that, so long as you are being unselfish and taking the appropriate pictures.
“However the rebounding piece of it, the turnover piece of it, that is onerous. It is onerous to win like that. And so, we’ve got to repair it, and we’ve got to repair it quick.”
The second-half domination by Dallas overshadowed the reunion of Brunson with the one group he’d ever performed for earlier than signing a four-year contract price greater than $100 million with the Knicks this offseason.
Each Hardaway and Doncic admitted it was bizarre taking part in in opposition to their former teammate – in Doncic’s case, they had been in the identical 2018 NBA Draft class collectively – whereas Brunson mentioned it was onerous for him to take a lot pleasure in it, given how the sport performed out.
“I will be sincere: not enjoyable,” mentioned Brunson, when requested how the reunion went, after ending with 13 factors and three assists in 27 minutes. “I imply, they performed nice tonight. You have to give them credit score. Regardless of who’s on the opposite aspect of the ground I believe my strategy at all times stays the identical.
“Seeing them after the sport, shaking their palms, that was fairly cool. I respect them, hope all is properly and see them in a month.”
As for Doncic, who had 30 factors, eight rebounds and 7 assists, he is considering forward to when Dallas hosts the Knicks subsequent month to probably get revenge for his misplaced wager, which was on an Eagles-Cowboys recreation.
“We have now one other recreation coming and we play at dwelling, so we’ll get one other wager and so they’re coming quickly, so we’ll see,” he mentioned with a smile.
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