February 25, 2025 Game of the Day Recap
Mavericks 99 – Lakers 107
Luka Doncic’s first game playing against the Mavericks since being traded was cinema. While I had mentioned it would be a tough game for the Mavericks, given their injury situation, they played well being shorthanded to that extent. Getting Gafford back will be huge for them. The game began as a Luka and Kyrie Irving show. There were first quarter three’s going back and forth between those two. Luka finished with his best scoring quarter of the night with 9 points, while Kyrie finished the quarter with 14.
The game started to get out of hand for the Mavericks as they were down by 16 just before heading into half. A big 12-4 run by the Mavericks, capped off by two big Max Christie three-pointers was enough to squeeze it to an 8 point deficit before heading into the break. I will be talking about Max Christie a little bit more in depth on Saturday.
The Mavericks kept on fighting and a good defensive 3rd quarter was enough for them to keep chopping at that lead. I was hoping for the sake of my prediction that the Lakers would come out of the gates hot in the 3rd quarter but that was not the case. The Mavericks did what needed to be done to give Kyrie Irving a slight chance to leave LA with a win as they got the lead going into the 4th quarter to 1.
LeBron James, at 40 years old, is still showing he is the man. He was held to 11 points in the first 3 quarters but finished the game with 27 on crazy good efficiency! One possession in particular in the 4th quarter, Austin Reaves threw a 60% court alley oop and LeBron came away with the finish. One of the cooler plays you will ever see from a 40-year-old.
Klay Thompson was doing his best to keep the Mavericks in the game in the 4th at one point scoring 11 in a row with that final 3 tying it up with less than 7 minutes on the clock. He found his shot when it was crucial, and if LeBron did not have the great 4th he did, I think the Mavericks were playing well enough to have been able to secure the comeback.
I spoke in the preview about the Laker trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Dalton Knecht, and those three combined for 44 total points. Most of those were between Doncic (19) and Reaves (20), but Knecht did not play all that much. He finished with 5 points in 10 minutes. I hope Knecht can see more time eventually, but with the rotation as it is now, we will have to wait a bit to see this trio fully come to life.
Luka Doncic: 19 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 blocks, 3 steals, 6-17 FG, 1-7 3P
Austin Reaves: 20 points, 5 assists, 5-12 FG, 3-8 3P
LeBron James: 27 points, 12 rebounds, 11-17 FG, 2-4 3P
Kyrie Irving: 35 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 12-27 FG, 5-11 3P
Klay Thompson: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 8-17 FG, 5-10 3P
February 26, 2025 Game of the Day Preview
My favorite team to watch in the Big 10 takes on my second favorite team to watch in the Big 10 tonight when Michigan State goes to Maryland. This game is important for both teams for similar reasons but not exact same. With both of those reasons pertaining to a share, or the outright winning, of the Big 10 regular season championship.
Michigan State is currently tied with Michigan, who they just beat a week or so ago, at the top of the Big 10 right now with a record of 13-3. With 4 games remaining on the schedule for both teams, Maryland is back 2 games, sitting at 11-5. Michigan State has a harder remaining schedule with 3 out of the 4 teams (including Maryland) being ranked at the time of writing. Along with Maryland playing 1 other ranked team besides Michigan State the rest of the year (Michigan), they will also be playing 2 of the bottom 4 teams in the conference in March.
Jase Richardson has been a beast for Michigan State since joining their starting lineup. Coming off the bench, he was good, averaging around 9 points a game on good efficiency for a guard. Since Tom Izzo started adding him into the starting lineup, he is averaging over 17 points per game while being even more efficient. He has easily gotten himself to a first round draft pick in this upcoming draft I hope his game is better than the one that reminded me so much of Killian Hayes. Please do not be Killian Hayes at the next level.
Tonight’s game between Coen Carr and Derik Queen is going to be a heated basketball game. I like the combination of grit and finesse that Queen has and the power of Coen Carr cannot be debated. Derik Queen, who will almost assuredly receive All-Big 10 Freshman awards, this year is averaging close to 16 points per game, 9 rebounds per game, and a full block. Carr is in his second year at Michigan State and has improved in every offensive category. His drive to get better this offseason showed and he is the spark plug for that team. Their last game against Michigan, there was a span of about 5 minutes of gametime where he soared higher than I have seen anyone do, in order to come down with an offensive rebound. You can’t teach that effort or that ability. I will be following him very closely throughout the remainder of his basketball days.
Carr has been tasked with defending people larger than himself in the past and he will have his hands full again tonight while trying to slow down Derik Queen. If Michigan State can get the right people to help when they need to, the size difference between the two should not come into effect.
I am hoping I can stay hot in picking games of the day as the past few have been very good.