Playoffs 2024 - R1 - G5 - Mavs vs Clippers (Wed., 10PMEST)

[ChipotleWest]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Can we stop with fatigue nonsense. Luka was ok for 6 months, has scored far the most 3s with far the best % and after 11 days of rest he can't hit anything anymore from the first minute, because of the fatigue? The only 3 he made in game 4 was late in 4th. He had fatigue in warmup already?

Luka was shooting 39.5% in post all star games, better than in pre All star games, no signs of fatigue there.

He's knees are not right, if you want to blame that on his conditioning fine but he's not healthy. Harping on that is pointless.

Read on Twitter

[Bob8]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Can we stop with fatigue nonsense. Luka was ok for 6 months, has scored far the most 3s with far the best % and after 11 days of rest he can't hit anything anymore from the first minute, because of the fatigue? The only 3 he made in game 4 was late in 4th. He had fatigue in warmup already?

Luka was shooting 39.5% in post all star games, better than in pre All star games, no signs of fatigue there.

He's knees are not right, if you want to blame that on his conditioning fine but he's not healthy. Harping on that is pointless.

Read on Twitter

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

[ChipotleWest]

Can we stop with fatigue nonsense. Luka was ok for 6 months, has scored far the most 3s with far the best % and after 11 days of rest he can't hit anything anymore from the first minute, because of the fatigue? The only 3 he made in game 4 was late in 4th. He had fatigue in warmup already?

Luka was shooting 39.5% in post all star games, better than in pre All star games, no signs of fatigue there.

He's knees are not right, if you want to blame that on his conditioning fine but he's not healthy. Harping on that is pointless.

Read on Twitter

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

So you're a doctor now? Give me a break.

[Bob8]

He's knees are not right, if you want to blame that on his conditioning fine but he's not healthy. Harping on that is pointless.

Read on Twitter

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

So you're a doctor now? Give me a break.

I believe we better stop and see how Luka looks in game 5. I hope that fatigue and injured Luka could still have a good game and Mavs win. If his injury is serious then this playoffs is over anyway.

[Archx]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Yep. If your knees start acting up, specially after a long season, no short breaks will help you. That's just high level sports and body needs time completely away from any activities, to fully heal up. Plus treatments. Look at Kawhi, force players back and it gets even worse. Mavs can only hope Luka's knee don't get worse.

I am also fully aware that Mavs could be exaggerating his injuries in order to cause confusion but then again, how many times does that actually happen? He had ankle, quad and knee problems. So yeah, he absolutely needs a full off season away from basketball, heal up and do proper cardio to prepare for next year.

[GermanFan120]

Can we stop with fatigue nonsense. Luka was ok for 6 months, has scored far the most 3s with far the best % and after 11 days of rest he can't hit anything anymore from the first minute, because of the fatigue? The only 3 he made in game 4 was late in 4th. He had fatigue in warmup already?

Luka was shooting 39.5% in post all star games, better than in pre All star games, no signs of fatigue there.

He's knees are not right, if you want to blame that on his conditioning fine but he's not healthy. Harping on that is pointless.

Read on Twitter

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

You are either delusional or not capable to read properly.

We are saying Luka's struggle is due to either or both of conditioning/fatigue and injury problem(s).

[Bob8]

He's knees are not right, if you want to blame that on his conditioning fine but he's not healthy. Harping on that is pointless.

Read on Twitter

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

You are either delusional or not capable to read properly.

We are saying Luka's struggle is due to either or both of conditioning/fatigue and injury problem(s).

Add mental fatigue and you have everything. I just wonder what happens, if he has good game tonight?

[GermanFan120]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Yep. If your knees start acting up, specially after a long season, no short breaks will help you. That's just high level sports and body needs time completely away from any activities, to fully heal up. Plus treatments. Look at Kawhi, force players back and it gets even worse. Mavs can only hope Luka's knee don't get worse.

I am also fully aware that Mavs could be exaggerating his injuries in order to cause confusion but then again, how many times does that actually happen? He had ankle, quad and knee problems. So yeah, he absolutely needs a full off season away from basketball, heal up and do proper cardio to prepare for next year.

Precisely. I play competitive basketball so I know. I had exactly Kawhi's knee issue, MRI was totally fine and everything but it bothered me and reduced my shooting % by a lot. So what did I do to be better? The solution was being away from basketball for a few months, and then no more issues on my knee after and the shooting was magically back all of a sudden.

[Bob8]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Yep. If your knees start acting up, specially after a long season, no short breaks will help you. That's just high level sports and body needs time completely away from any activities, to fully heal up. Plus treatments. Look at Kawhi, force players back and it gets even worse. Mavs can only hope Luka's knee don't get worse.

I am also fully aware that Mavs could be exaggerating his injuries in order to cause confusion but then again, how many times does that actually happen? He had ankle, quad and knee problems. So yeah, he absolutely needs a full off season away from basketball, heal up and do proper cardio to prepare for next year.

You know that won't happen. No way that he misses Olympic qualification in Greece.

[GermanFan120]

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

You are either delusional or not capable to read properly.

We are saying Luka's struggle is due to either or both of conditioning/fatigue and injury problem(s).

Add mental fatigue and you have everything. I just wonder what happens, if he has good game tonight?

Of course there is mental fatigue. Look at Embiid, dude was trying to lose to go on vacation.

[Archx]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Yep. If your knees start acting up, specially after a long season, no short breaks will help you. That's just high level sports and body needs time completely away from any activities, to fully heal up. Plus treatments. Look at Kawhi, force players back and it gets even worse. Mavs can only hope Luka's knee don't get worse.

I am also fully aware that Mavs could be exaggerating his injuries in order to cause confusion but then again, how many times does that actually happen? He had ankle, quad and knee problems. So yeah, he absolutely needs a full off season away from basketball, heal up and do proper cardio to prepare for next year.

You know that won't happen. No way that he misses Olympic qualification in Greece.

That's my concern yes. He should though but he probably won't.

[Swish77]

I'm the one saying that his conditioning is fine. You can't play great RS with bad conditioning and he is playing good D in playoffs, except that unfortunate game 4, which indicates solid conditioning too. I would say that he's just in bad timed shooting slump. And that can become mental too. He needs few early 3s in game 5 or we will have another difficult to watch game.

About knee. For sure not optimal, but it's not that bad either, or he couldn't play at all.

You are either delusional or not capable to read properly.

We are saying Luka's struggle is due to either or both of conditioning/fatigue and injury problem(s).

Add mental fatigue and you have everything. I just wonder what happens, if he has good game tonight?

We will see the MVP Luka tonight. Book it!

[Swish77]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Yep. If your knees start acting up, specially after a long season, no short breaks will help you. That's just high level sports and body needs time completely away from any activities, to fully heal up. Plus treatments. Look at Kawhi, force players back and it gets even worse. Mavs can only hope Luka's knee don't get worse.

I am also fully aware that Mavs could be exaggerating his injuries in order to cause confusion but then again, how many times does that actually happen? He had ankle, quad and knee problems. So yeah, he absolutely needs a full off season away from basketball, heal up and do proper cardio to prepare for next year.

Well he has a right knee sprain. I saw a pic yesterday on X that he was at practice with it taped up pretty good. Luka knows his body more than anyone in the world. Nobody is forcing him to play. We all know Luka doesnt like to miss games. Luka does what Luka wants. IF he says he wants to play then I trust him.

[MassimoPayne]

But can someone explain to me why his knees are bleeding?
Usually no knee issues lead to bleedings

[GermanFan120]

But can someone explain to me why his knees are bleeding?
Usually no knee issues lead to bleedings

He fell during game and maybe some skins were off that caused the bleed, which should not be considered a big deal.

What is a big deal though is that if he fell on the knee that ALREADY had problem, the pain would have made it even worse.

[Archx]

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Yep. If your knees start acting up, specially after a long season, no short breaks will help you. That's just high level sports and body needs time completely away from any activities, to fully heal up. Plus treatments. Look at Kawhi, force players back and it gets even worse. Mavs can only hope Luka's knee don't get worse.

I am also fully aware that Mavs could be exaggerating his injuries in order to cause confusion but then again, how many times does that actually happen? He had ankle, quad and knee problems. So yeah, he absolutely needs a full off season away from basketball, heal up and do proper cardio to prepare for next year.

Well he has a right knee sprain. I saw a pic yesterday on X that he was at practice with it taped up pretty good. Luka knows his body more than anyone in the world. Nobody is forcing him to play. We all know Luka doesnt like to miss games. Luka does what Luka wants. IF he says he wants to play then I trust him.

Athletes want to compete, they're paid to do so and it's also their life passion. But with that being said, it also means they are their own worst enemies. A real doctor will tell you to shut it down in order to prevent future structure damages which could potentially jeopardize your career. We've seen this soooo many times in various sports that i won't even look up for examples.

If Luka thinks he's ok to play, then he should play, i don't care for him that much ... But i do care as a fan and even if Mavs somehow defeat LAC with a hobbled Doncic, then what? OKC are young and will play fast, how is his body going to hold up? I know i'm getting ahead of myself but the way he's playing now, i don't have much confidence. At least if he was healthy then obviously anything can happen.

[MassimoPayne]

But can someone explain to me why his knees are bleeding?
Usually no knee issues lead to bleedings

He fell during game and maybe some skins were off that caused the bleed, which should not be considered a big deal.

What is a big deal though is that if he fell on the knee that ALREADY had problem, the pain would have made it even worse.

But it's bleeding every game and I don't see him always falling on the knee

[italy_23]

I am a „real“ doctor, and that is concerning me too. He is bleeding since the end of the regular season (in that Rockets OT game I noticed it for the first time). And I can’t come up with a reasonable explanation. If he fell on that knee, then there would have been way enough time to heal the bleeding. And he bleeds on both knees… no idea what that is.. certainly you don’t bleed because of a sprained knee or inflammation. I guess there are 2 things going on in his knees, but that is just speculation

[Marko_MFFL]

You have entire dedicated thread on Mavs reddit about this, people do notice. And then you have Slovenian fans talking about the same thing. It's not wrong to point out that he has to do better in the off season. It's a very fair criticism, it's basically the very same concern since he got in to the league.

Don't you think is kinda stupid to make big conclusions after his best RS and after only 4 playoffs games in which he played great D in 3, his biggest problem being 3pts % and Mavs still winning his minutes in every game, by 8 avg.?

Who cares about Reddit and Slovenian fans, wait at least until this series ends.

I'm not drawing any conclusions playoffs are still ongoing but what happened in RS is different to what is happening right now. His level of play, he's known of, has fallen mightly. If a MASS of people come to the very same conclusion, there is no need to defend it so heavily, specially when you know the criticism about his conditioning is valid and a constant problem.

Listen to NBA coaches on commentary, what is the 1st thing they'll say when a star player struggles with shooting? First thing they bring up is the fatigue, heavy legs, etc... You see a ton of his shots are short or completely off base, that's a nr1 sign of fatigue. And he's taken a lot of easy shots, specially for him.

Anyway.... i'm also getting tired talking about this It's a common concern which is basically clear to 99% of people. We'll see if he'll get enough rest to get his %'s back up otherwise it will be on Kyrie to carry offense again.

I don't think his problem is fatigue or poor physical shape, but an injured knee.

[Marko_MFFL]

You are either delusional or not capable to read properly.

We are saying Luka's struggle is due to either or both of conditioning/fatigue and injury problem(s).

Add mental fatigue and you have everything. I just wonder what happens, if he has good game tonight?

We will see the MVP Luka tonight. Book it!