RS 19/20 - Jan. 23 Dallas at Portland 10:30PM

[Dirk]

Hezonja vs Luka
The anticipated rematch. A few days ago Luka lulled him into really bad positions...

You need to slow it down Mario or your eagerness will be used against you bro. Look for Luka to continue to perfect the "Harden art" as well, Beverly didn't enjoy it.

Lillard
Matchup nightmare for anyone and the Mavs in particular who have been torched one too many times by explosive guys like Damian and Kemba. Might require special coverage especially if CJ McCollum is out. Scored 61 the other night. Still taken to OT vs Warriors because Trent Jr and Simons couldn't hit anything. They're still pretty thin with injuries but Ariza likely is like make the start and shore up their lineup a bit.

TL;DR Win this one for Powell.

[BlueSan]

win in for Dwight guys, Luka...unleash it...simply unleash it

[Bob8]

Luka will need good 3pt %, because Whiteside will be waiting in the paint.

[Michaellam1987]

I think Dallas need to play Delon Wright more to handle Lillard

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[Pinkyring]

If kp is out again tonight we need to just shut him down

[Imon]

If kp is out again tonight we need to just shut him down

I don't think KP was listed on the injury report and since this isn't a b2b game he should play ... unless he tells the staff he has a sore knee again.

McCollum and Whiteside are listed as game time decision but I suspect one or both will probably play. I think Whiteside is the more likely candidate here to play but I wouldn't be surprised to see CJ return from his tweaked ankle.

*edit*
CJ has been downgraded to out.

[SunsRback4Good]

Predict Luka's numbers: I'll start, 27/14/11 on 48% fg

[The Sparest]

Predict Luka's numbers: I'll start, 27/14/11 on 48% fg

39/9/12 45%fg

[kane0801]

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[DJ_3_Ball]

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With this starting lineup, there's nobody who can handle Melo's big body. But we should just thank our lucky stars Nurkic is out still because Nurkic would have a field day vs this lineup.

DFS hasn't been able to slow down Kemba or Dame (in last week's matchup), I expect to see Dame roast him again tonight.

Hopefully Seth can slow him down somewhat, but Mavs just don't have that perimeter defender who can handle a quick guard. They go off for 15 in the 1st quarter vs us every time and then it's 3-4 minutes into the 2nd quarter before Rick's lightbulb goes off "Hey, let's try a trap"

[DJ_3_Ball]

Lol. Unbelievable. Doncic gets taken out with a few seconds left in the 1Q because RC's worried about his ankle & Luka's first concern is to hobble over to the ref & say his two cents. He's more worried about that than he is his own ankle. Smh. LOL

[dirkforpres]

What a first.

Great shooting by both teams. Hopefully it keeps up for Dallas anyway

[SunsRback4Good]

Lol. Unbelievable. Doncic gets taken out with a few seconds left in the 1Q because RC's worried about his ankle & Luka's first concern is to hobble over to the ref & say his two cents. He's more worried about that than he is his own ankle. Smh. LOL

Nothing extremely shocking as Luka and Ayton will do anything to win.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Lol. Unbelievable. Doncic gets taken out with a few seconds left in the 1Q because RC's worried about his ankle & Luka's first concern is to hobble over to the ref & say his two cents. He's more worried about that than he is his own ankle. Smh. LOL

Nothing extremely shocking as Luka and Ayton will do anything to win.

We've had this discussion around here ad nauseam, which is my doing, but place me firmly in the camp of talking to the refs does nothing. It doesn't change the refs' minds, it doesn't lead to future make up calls, it only causes the officials to subconsciously give the benefit of the doubt to your opponent.

There's no "what a competitor" award for players that spend all their free time in the ref's ear.

I only brought it up this time because it was so LOL. He's delaying seeing the medical staff about a twisted ankle (to the same ankle that caused him to miss 5 games earlier in the season) all so he can go talk to the ref, which it's not like he's going to spend 20 more minutes this game talking to the ref. By now, Luka knows all of them on a first name basis. He spends more time talking to the ref than he does his coaches. I mean, geez. You'd think the guy could go get his ankle looked at first, but nope. He's all about talking that ref's ear off.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Delon Wright killing the offensive boards this quarter!

[dirkforpres]

Carlisle needs to never put Luka and Porzingis on the line for technical free throws. Wright and Hardaway would have been much better options

[dirkforpres]

Delon Wright killing the offensive boards this quarter!

He can make such an impact. I hope games like this get him the minutes he deserves

[DJ_3_Ball]

I'm seriously considering trading Luka in my fantasy league because he's KILLING my FT%... odd dynamics with the league because I'm already super strong in 3s/PTs/Rebs/Assts, and can only really improve by gaining points in FTs... but still. What a statement.

That's Dwight Howard territory. Trade a dominant guy who can win you categories on his own just because of how AWFUL he is in a % category.

Luka ain't doing much for my FG% either

[aggerrard]

Great first half offensively.