Quote board: Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway, and Jason Kidd talk after beating the Thunder at home

The Dallas Mavericks got themselves back over .500 on Monday night after a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. They led for most of the game, but the Thunder team would not quit and tried repeatedly to make things difficult for the Dallas Mavericks. After the hard fought win, a number of members of the team spoke to media.

Luka Doncic

(On he and Spencer Dinwiddie’s near triple-doubles…)

“He’s been great. This is like the second game in three or four games he’s been so close (to a triple-double). He’s been great through the whole season helping us out. Whether it is assisting, scoring, rebounding assisting. He’s been great in every spot. He should give me assists and I should give him my rebounds.”

(On getting a technical for talking to his own player...)

“I’ll get that one back for sure. He said I looked at him. But I didn’t look at him. We will send about seven angels to the NBA office so they can see that I was yelling to teammates.”

(On being a leader and keeping the team shooting...)

“It’s simple. Today, I told them we’re getting great shots. You can’t get better shots than that. Just keep going. And that is what we did. We kept sharing the ball. Just keep shooting them. They’re open shots and you’re not going to get better ones in the NBA. So that’s what we did and that is how we won.”

(On being guarded by Luguentz Dort...)

“I’m going to need some pads next game. He’s very physical. He’s a great defender. I told him the first game we played against them that he’s an amazing defender.”

Jason Kidd

(On Spencer Dinwiddie’s play tonight…)

“He was good. He was really good, attacking, being able to touch the paint with the ball, and being able to find the open guys. I thought he was really good tonight for us.”

(On Reggie Bullock shot making as of late…)

“Yeah, I thought in Chicago he had one go down, but I think Reggie’s turning the corner. When you look at tonight, he looks good. You know, again the defensive side of the ball is something that we always talk about and he’s big for us there. He’s starting to see the ball go in and it’s just going to help up especially with Josh out, but I thought Frank [Ntilikina] was great too for us tonight off the bench. Gave us some toughness. Was able to run it without Luka [Dončić] having to bring the ball up every time against [Luguentz] Dort.”

(On Reggie Bullock historically knocking down more 3-pointers as the season goes along…)

“Yeah, he is probably aware of that. That’s a good question to ask him, but we’re aware of it. It’s Dec. 12 so we’re probably looking forward to it being the 1st, but we’ll take it now and for the rest of the season. Again, shooters go through that and the scouting report on him is he starts a little slow and I’m good with that. As much as we want every shot to go in as the season goes, here, December, January, the games become a little bit more important and so it’s good to see the ball go in for him. But Timmy [Tim Hardaway Jr.] made them tonight. We got a lot of great looks, we shot 50-something, and made 24 [3-pointers]. Every time they made a run, we make a big 3 and we got wide open shots there. So, it’s good to see the ball go in for us.”

(On how much he values Luka Dončić’s input when it comes to decisions to challenge calls…)

“I listen to him a lot, but it’s hard to do it right after the jump ball. It’s hard to do it in the second quarter. It’s hard to do it in the third. We only have one of them. He might think I have some, since I haven’t used a lot of them this season, might carry over. But there’s some that shouldn’t hopefully as we go down with technology here that the goaltend and stuff like that will not have to be challenged.”

Tim Hardaway Jr.

(On if he should have hit a couple more threes…)

“Yeah, a couple. A couple of them were in and out. But, you know, it’s a part of the game.”

(On if he is feeling more confident in his shot now after shooting 14 three-pointers tonight…)

“I mean, I think I’ve always been confident. I probably get a little bit too trigger-happy here and there. But, I mean, I’ve had it rolling for the stretch since I’ve been starting so I’m just trying to keep the confidence, trust my work, and continue to shoot the shots when they’re open, most importantly.”

(On when both the backcourt of Luka Dončić and Spencer Dinwiddie are performing at such a high level…)

“It makes it easier for us. Our job is just to stay ready, knock down shots when open, step in with confidence, and when you receive the pass, either drive or shoot the ball or be a playmaker. For those two guys to both almost have triple-doubles, we already know with Luka, but with Spence, he had a couple of games now where he was right on the brink of that. So, he’s showing that he’s an all-around player, defending, sharing the ball, moving the ball down there, and grabbing boards for us.”

(On how the team keeps it together and has faith that they will be able to come back after starting the game slowly…)

“A lot of those shots were wide open. Also, it’s not like we’re here air balling them or that they’re shots that are missing terribly badly off the rim. A lot of those shots are in and out so you gotta continue to stay confident. Like I said, just trust your work, go out there, and knock them down. You [should] shoot with confidence.”

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