The Dallas Mavericks may have just handed the biggest blow to the Houston Rockets this season. The former came out on top, defeating the Rockets and finally knocking them out of play-in contention. Amidst this, as the final seconds of the game unfolded, Luka Doncic had a few words for Rockets head coach Ime Udoka as the two kept going at one another even after the game in their post-game press conferences.
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Dallas defeated Houston 147-136, pushing the team to the fifth spot in the Western Conference, [per NBA.com], making it a massive night for the winning side. However, reporters were more interested in knowing what the conversation between Luka Doncic and Ime Udoka was all about.
After the game, Doncic sat down with the media for his post-game press conference. During the presser, Luka was asked about the words exchanged between him and the Houston Rockets head coach.
“He was talking to me in the first game there, so you know I’m going to go back.”
The same question was asked to Ime Udoka after the Rockets were knocked out of play-in contention for good this year. Udoka had somewhat of a vague response as well. The reporter asked, “After Luka got the bucket that kinda sealed it he seemed to have something to say to you. What was going on there?”
As seen in the X[Formerly Twitter] post by Jackson Gatlin, the former player-turned-coach said, “I don’t understand Slovenian so I don’t know.”
Neither of the two really revealed what the exact conversation was between the two and both of them, opting to keep their answers vague at best. However, one can conclude that Luka Doncic‘s words for Ime Udoka were less than positive as the Mavericks killed any hope of a postseason for the Houston Rockets, given that Udoka seemed far from a fan of the conversation.
As for the game itself, the stars of Dallas balled out in this matchup. It was quite a surprise to see Dillon Brooks lead the Rockets in scoring with 29 points, but in the end, it was the star tandem of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic who shone the brightest.
Doncic finished the game with 37 points, 12 assists, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks for the game. He shot 12-21 from the field, 4-10 from beyond the arc, and had a perfect night from the free-throw line, going 9-9, per Statmuse.
Irving wasn’t far behind, as he led the Mavericks in scoring with a 48-point performance tonight. To go along with that, he also had an impressive 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in the game. The player shot 15-25 from the field, 3-8 from beyond the arc, and went 15-17 from the charity stripe.
The Dallas Mavericks have now won 13 out of their last 15 games, per Statmuse. And with only four games left on their schedule, the team seems to have a sense of momentum to them with the postseason just around the corner. As a result, they can be expected to make some serious noise in these upcoming NBA Playoffs.
