GAME 21 DIRKIE: Winner Jalen (54%) & Runner-up DP (42%)

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/12...5553590272

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https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1202446622757662721

[Reunion Mav Old]

We're 9-1 in last 10...First time since Championship Year....

So you're telling me there's a chance?!

My wife and I are going to Vegas next week. I plan to put some money on our chance. Few thought we would win in 2011 and I made a boat load on that one. I hope our odds are still really high.

I voted for Jalen because he was so needed down the stretch. He played so well, so wily smart, and....I have to give it to him because he was almost in tears after the game due to the loss of his high school close friend.

[Jommybone]

Powell again hit in the head for no call. Every. Single. Game. We should create a Shawn Bradley award and give it to Dwight. And yes, this was Dwight's best game since Stanford.

But Jalen's night was better. That was an all-star-level performance. (And that one miss? Maxi passed him the ball with 0.9 on the shot clock.)

[Reunion Mav Old]

Really surprised so many are voting for Brunson.  This was arguably Powell's best game as a Maverick.

You know, you may be right. Powell played so well, you might just be right. But Jalen did things that are way above what he has been able to do recently and he did it at game winning time. We may well have lost the game without him. 

Even KP would be a deserving winner with his performance some nights. This was the best night of the year for unexpected and yet very deserving Dirkie candidates.

[SleepingHero]

I gotta give it to Jalen for sparking the Mavs run that ended the game. 14 4th quarter points, 7/8 from the field overall. Jalen had his best game of the year and it was much needed.

Runner up has to go to Kristaps for me. He hit so many timely shots with the clock winding down, the most memorable being his put back dunk to beat the shot clock and effectively help seal the game. He was locked and loaded and picked up a lot of slack when Luka was off. 

Diamond Powell had his best game of the year as well. Had he played in the 4th and not gotten injured he'd probably win the Dirkie tonight. Nonetheless his stellar play helped catapult the Mavs over the Wolves in an exhilarating win.

[ballsrchr]

The bench was great.  Brunson was great.  But I'm giving the Dirkie to Powell for keep the Mavs in the game until others could take up the slack.

[BolsDamols]

Jalen "Got DSJ Shaking in his boots" Brunson

[Lucky Luciano]

D MFn Powell!!!

Excellent game from him! Also his energy has been amazing since the Laker game. He's just more aggressive and more energized and it definitely seeps over into his teammates! Its funny I read the tweet about him and B Wright being the only 2 in Mavs history to have a perfect night and before reading that I though about how amazing B Wright was during the game when he was finishing around the rim and within 10 feet having career numbers his last 2 years here. Talk about how the right role can have a player playing at magnificent levels. Got to tip my hat once again to Carlisle for really putting our guys in the best opportunity to win and the best roles to outperform what's expected. (Outside of KP atm lol)


DP for the Dirkie!!!! Easy choice!!!

Mak should be back to poke his chest out a little bit!

[cow]

What if Dwight Powell never misses a shot again?

[fifteenth]

What if Dwight Powell never misses a shot again?

folks would include him in better trade proposals?

[cow]

What if Dwight Powell never misses a shot again?

folks would include him in better trade proposals?

All the Powell blasphemy manifested in his injury last night.  i hope you all are proud of yourselves.

[ItsGoTime]

What if Dwight Powell never misses a shot again?

folks would include him in better trade proposals?

Kept the other part of the equation open, so, he only takes .5 shots per game from here on out. What say ye now?

[Mavsfan12]

Kamm, I can not vote for refs ... they're playing a lot...

Jalen is the man of the evening big time!
DP was excellent, but is a difference between assisted execution and win creation in Q4.
Well, from my point of view.

You know, what stood out in Powell's performance for me was that there were multiple plays that HE created.  It was a new thing that he hasn't done this year.  He is usually a vital cog, but gets the ball in non-scoring situations and is getting rid of the ball like a hot potato.  He had a pump-fake-drive-dunk on Towns that made me ask who the F is this that has possession of Powell's body.  That was beast mode Powell.  

This was no doubt a shared dirkie situation.  They pretty much PERFECTLY complimented each other - and Powell only stopped due to cracking his arm on KP's apparently rock hard abs!!! (side bar.  seriously, wth?  if there is a collision with someones arm and another person's upper groin/lower abdomen, and the dude that got hit in the gut doesn't flinch, and the other dude is writhing in pain?  What just happened? I don't think I have ever seen anything like that.  KP didn't seem impacted at all.  Razor hips?  What a freak injury, wow!)  Powell was really the guy the first 3 quarters and the Mavs are pretty much getting blown out without him.  He may have KEPT giving MIN the business, who knows?  

That takes NOTHING away from Jalen's performance.  His aggression (which he regularly plays with) coincided with efficiency and he is the reason we pull away and win, comfortably.  I have voted the dirkie for that type of impactful, albeit not full-game, performance before and it is deserving here!  He did nothing for most of the game and was HUGE in the 4th.

In a game with those performances, my favorite take away was from KP.  He smiled.  A LOT.  That has been missing in his game.  It was huge to see, and I hope that in a game where he struggled in the early part, that his end game success, (and camaraderie that comes with contributing the way he did down the stretch in a big win, and JOY in playing the game he loves), carries over to the next few games.  Maybe that gets him out of his funk and, possibly, out of his own head.  He has played tight and rushed, and maybe now he can relax a bit and have some fun! Winning is fun, but some people don't enjoy it when they don't feel like they have contributed to it.  In his interviews, it seems like he has internalized his struggles - maybe being a contributor down the stretch is what the Dr. ordered!

Lastly, leading up to Luka's draft, Luka was consistently voted by evaluators as the player with the highest FLOOR.   People who "doubted him", (I don't think anyone thought he couldn't play), questioned his ceiling.  While we have all likely been guilty of underestimating how great he actually would be, I think it is pretty amazing that in this game, we sort of got a view of Luka's "high floor".  My oh my is it high.  lol  Seriously though, if you were to plot out Luka's game performances this season 3 games would stick out as bad game outliers - This game, Clippers (about the same as this), and Denver (actually worse).  But yeah, this is what a bad night looks like for this guy!!!  Good times.

[donzingis38]

Powell kept us in the game. But I thought Brunson put the game away (with Kleber and Jackson).

Brunson is my player of the game. Can't go wrong with either though.