DALLAS - What is currently happening in Dallas is nothing short of the result of some divine providence and if you don’t agree, you haven’t been paying attention. ... and you really should be listening to the music being made. A mere teenager, precocious in a way that seems to turn the entire NBA on its side, has been injected into the veins of fans, the media, and the league itself. While some might say what Luka Doncic does is trenchant magic, it’s actually coruscating art at its finest. Doncic appears to be the main attraction (especially in the Mavericks' last six wins) who helps put butts in the seats and keeps people watching, but he’s actually a fraction of the bigger picture:
With only a quarter of the 2018-19 season already behind them, the Mavericks aren’t playing basketball – they’re acting out a chaotic symphony on the court thanks to the wunderkind.
“I think after the way we started, things were tough,'' Harrison Barnes said. "We were trying to do the right thing, but we couldn’t get together, couldn’t do it as a cohesiveness unit. But since then I feel like we’ve bounced back and we’ve been in the right direction.”
There were times during the Mavs’ 113-104 win over Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics on Saturday night when the Celtics, clearly agitated by "WonderBoy'' Doncic, aggressively tried to put him in his place (especially by way of Jaylen Brown ridiculous shoulder.) Only this time, the 19-year-old kid wasn’t having it. Neither was the team. Not this time around.
Off-the-court drama involving the media has managed to create a vacuum-like blind spot when it comes to the Mavs’ opponents and the Mavericks clearly have the surprise advantage. Instead of resorting back to the passive team they’ve been over the past few miserable years, they’re taking charge and turning their game into a full on opium influenced symphony that is akin to Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” or more specifically, the fifth and final movement of the piece titled “Songe d’une nuit du sabbat.”
In non-douche'y terms, most will identify part of the piece from the ominously creepy opening of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” (ophicleides, scary bells, the freaking works.)
Much like the Mavericks’ slow, yet sharp, opening of the season, the movement is divided into dramatic tempo changes, starting with the opening friction of strings that seem to rise at a competitive and dynamic rate. It almost hurts at first. It almost gives you that quick “WHAT THE UTTER F-“ feeling, the tempo being Largo. With the drama unfolding behind the scenes with the Mavericks regarding the imaginary (?) tension between Luka and DeAndre Jordan and the curious case of whatever the hell is going on with Wesley Matthews (updated here with our scoop on the subject via Woj, but really via a one-on-one with owner Mark Cuban), the Mavericks quickly switched up the tempo to Allegro and b'-slapped the Utah Jazz into oblivion with their bloated win on November 14. While they tip-toeing around the variations before that specific win, it set the dramatic tone.
From there, the C clarinet takes the stage, whose light, quick shifts mirror that of J.J. Barea who, on Saturday, completely managed to disarm the Celtics' pick-and-roll defense (can’t ice a pick that never even happens, you jags.)
The introduction of the bells come into play, which closely resemble Doncic’s movements on the court, offensive movements that can lull a defender into a false sense of security, especially after Barea (along with his self-named "running mate,'' Devin Harris) throws everyone off. Standing alone, the bells have only a desired impact, but surrounded by the other instruments, it becomes aggressive in a way that can terrify the life out of you.
If you’re familiar with the rest of the movement, you know the pace quickens and it becomes an all-out ear orgy. The 9-9 Mavericks have won seven of nine and are hoping Dennis Smith Jr. (wrist) and Dwight Powell (knee) can come back this week ... but have a pretty bumpy road ahead of them (starting with the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers on Friday). They'll need help from the headliners like Barnes all the way to "Get Down or Lay Down'' emerging kid Dorian Finney-Smith. But if they’re able to keep on their punctilious pace in their very own symphony with an aggressive, if not irritated, Luka, they might just surprise the absolute hell out of the Western Conference with their deafeningly frenzy ways.
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