Jayson Tatum isn’t a rookie anymore.
He didn’t look the part in Game 7 Sunday — when most players, no matter their age, get tight, he exploded. Tatum finished the game with 24 points on 17 shots.
He also had the highlight of the game, a monster dunk on LeBron James.
“I mean, I had to get him back for the two shots he hit on me in Cleveland,” Tatum said after the game.
Well played, rookie.
Insane.
Luka Dončić was on the court for the Mavericks Monday — something that was not assured until earlier in the day — and once there made the pass of the season. Trapped in the corner by two defenders, he lept in the air and threw a bullet skip pass to Jaden Hardy for 3.
Goodness. https://t.co/88laUNY9GA pic.twitter.com/ro0XnRowIE
— NBA (@NBA) March 28, 2023
That is your assist of the year. Even Dončić called it one of his best passes ever.
Luka Dončić on his insane pass to Jaden Hardy: “Probably one of the best passes I made for me. So you know, I’m just glad it went through.”
He said he hasn’t seen the social media buzz on the pass yet, he was playing dominoes against his father. 📱 pic.twitter.com/A5EhewMLFH
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) March 28, 2023
Dončić led the way with 25 points and six assists and the Mavericks — desperate for a win as they try to climb back into the play-in — beat a shorthanded Pacers team without Tyrese Haliburton or Myles Turner, 127-104.
LeBron James wanted back on the court. He saw the glimpses of what this current roster can do when healthy and focused — the same glimpses that have Laker exceptionalism running strong in Los Angeles — and he sees a West without a dominant team. Together those things mean opportunity.
LeBron could have shut it down when he felt something pop in his foot last month, admitting that two doctors told him to get surgery. However, the “LeBron James of foot doctors” told him he could be back this season — and he made that return Sunday. Still, LeBron admitted he could need off-season surgery.
"When the doctors told me I was healing faster than anybody before they've seen with the injury." @KingJames' response to when he knew he would return from his foot injury. pic.twitter.com/YU0nqhkobj
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 26, 2023
“I don’t know. Right now, I don’t need it, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll probably get another MRI at the end of the season and go from there. But if I end up having to get surgery after the season, you guys won’t know. I don’t talk to you guys in the offseason, and by the time next season starts, I’ll be fine. I’ll be ready to go.”
As for what motivated him to get back on the court this season and not shut it down.
“Now we sitting at a chance to be able to… to hell with the play-in, we actually can be a top-[six] seed. That definitely changed my mindset on me coming back and trying to be a part of this, obviously, so — well, I don’t really want to say changed my mindset, it just enhanced what I was trying to do as far as my workouts, as far as my treatment and everything”
The Lakers sit tied for 9/10 in the West, one game below .500. While LeBron can say, “to hell with the play-in,” his Lakers would need help from the Clippers or Warriors to climb into the top six even though they are only 1.5 games back (time is short for L.A., if the Warriors or Clippers go 4-3 the rest of the way, the Lakers need to go 6-2 over their last eight). Los Angeles also is just a game up on Dallas for the 11 seed, and if the losses pile up they could fall out of the play-in completely.
With LeBron back, missing the play-in is unlikely. But having him back (and eventually a healthy D'Angelo Russell, who was out Sunday with a hip issue) also is no guarantee of wins — the Lakers still need peak Anthony Davis to compete. When he has a solid game of 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists (as he did Sunday), they lose. The Lakers need bubble Davis every night, or even if they make the postseason it will be short-lived.
This was unexpected, especially after crew chief Kevin Scott said after the game last night: “Doncic was assessed a technical foul for his use of profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.”
The NBA league office reviewed the incident (as it does with all technicals) and rescinded what would have been Luka Doncic’s 16th technical.
Luka Dončić’s (DAL) technical foul (7:51, 3rd qtr) from the game on 3/26/23 has been rescinded upon league office review.
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) March 27, 2023
That 16th technical would have triggered an automatic one game suspension. With it rescinded, Dončić is clear to play Monday night when the Mavericks take on the Pacers.
Sunday night in Charlotte, Dončić was given a technical when he didn’t get a call on a leaning baseline jumper and said something to the nearby official.
Luka Dončić got his 16th technical foul of the season, resulting in a one-game suspension. pic.twitter.com/K3X0Np47dA
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 26, 2023
This incident comes days after Dončić was fined $35,000 for making a money gesture towards a referee in frustration after a Mavericks loss.
Through all this the Mavericks have lost four straight, 7-of-9, and have slid back to 11th in the West, outside even the play-in. Their team is disintegrating and if they don’t pick up some wins fast they have less than two weeks until they are on summer vacation.
Recently Joel Embiid said,” ‘If I win MVP, good. If I don’t, it’s fine with me.” Today’s news plays right into that narrative.
Embiid has been playing through calf tightness for a few games now — he only played a half against the Bulls last Wednesday — but still putting up numbers (46 points against the Warriors, 28 and 10 against the Suns). However, there had been some concern in the organization about not pushing things and making sure Embiid is healthy for the playoffs. Which is why they will rest him on Monday night, short-circuiting an MVP-race showdown against Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets. Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN broke the news and John Clarke of NBC Sports Philadelphia has confirmed it.
Joel Embiid is out tonight. His calf is still bothering him. https://t.co/SqRdaoBRmg
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 27, 2023
Embiid did go through part of the 76ers’ shootaround this morning. The decision was made after that point.
Undoubtedly this will spark the load management discussion around the league again, and Embiid is going to take heat for this — but this is a situation where the team’s medical staff made the call, likely over Embiid’s objection.
From the 76ers perspective what matters is having Embiid healthy during the playoffs — they are going nowhere without him — and there is no reason to take undue risks with the team all but locked into the No. 3 seed in the East.
James Harden is still expected to make his return to action Monday from a three-game absence.
But it robs fans — including those who bought tickets in Denver — of one of the great showdowns in the league, and one of the more anticipated games of the season’s final weeks. The NBA has to find a way to balance player health with having their best players on the court for the biggest games. Keep telling fans the regular season doesn’t matter and they will start treating it like that.
