Los Angeles (AFP)
They are two of the best Europeans in the NBA, kneaded with talent and talking the same basketball happy, efficient, uninhibited: Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis embody the radiant present of the Dallas Mavericks, now orphaned by legend Dirk Nowitizki just retired.
"I do not see better double impact weapon over the next ten years." Former All-Star Charles Barkley, a consultant for the channel TNT, did not go through four ways to establish what level can rise the tandem in a league that revives this season with the duos of superstars.
If LeBron James / Anthony Davis at the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard / Paul George at the Clippers or James Harden / Russell Westbrook at the Rockets legitimately nourish title ambitions with around them players cut for adventure, it still seems premature for the tandem Mavs despite an excellent start to the season.
After four games and before defying the Lakers Friday night, Dallas has three wins, carried by the 25 and 22.3 points average of Doncic and Porzingis. Beyond the numbers, the alchemy between Slovenian and Latvian works so well that it seems almost natural.
"Everyone can create problems for the opponent on their own, but when they are paired together, they create much bigger problems," their coach Rick Carlisle anticipated during the Media Day, just hours before the start of the season.
- Spiritual Sons -
Having two such talented players at his disposal is a boon for the Mavericks' golden age when Nowitzki reigned. In 21 years, the German placed Dallas on the map of the NBA, even making him taste the supreme title in 2011. The Texan city has also made him well by renaming this week one of its streets to his name for honor.
Now his legacy is in the agile hands of Doncic and Porzingis, two blondes like him, aged 20 and 24, who see themselves as spiritual sons of legend, with whom they share the art of long shoot distance.
"We have a huge gap to fill, Luka and I, when we see all that Dirk has done for this city, for this club, where a culture has been forged with him for 20 years. think, because it will not be easy to reproduce, but we are excited, this is an opportunity for us, "said Porzingis, whose serious knee injury that took him 20 months away from the prosecution no longer seems to be a bad memory.
- A long way -
For Doncic, all this boils down to "simply following Dirk's steps", while accommodating the pressure that escorts the difficulty of the task: "The pressure, I know it since the age of 16 years. I like that "
The best rookie of the past season is considered a valuable play facilitator by Rick Carlisle, who praises "his ability to see things before they happen". "It makes the game much easier for the others - the players who have that kind of talent - I've seen it, I played with Larry Bird for three years when he was the best player on the planet - are rare. "
Welcoming the complementarity of his two players, the coach of the Mavs believes that the path is still long before seeing them bring Dallas to the top of the NBA.
"The lights are on them, they're considered our two best players, but they're still young." When I took over the team here in 2008, Dirk was on his second or third contract, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry in their 3rd or 4th, these guys went through wars, they knew the value of the victories because they had experienced difficult defeats, Luka and Kristaps have not gone through yet, "he warned, calling for patience.
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