Mavs star Luka Dončić shows flashes of potential MVP season despite Friday night’s preseason loss to Orlando
Andre Johnson 
SIGNS OF THINGS TO COME?
Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić did not speak with the assembled media following Dallas’ preseason home opener versus the Orlando Magic Friday night.
No worries.
That’s because for the better part of the first half, he allowed his remarkable play to do the talking.
Dončić wasted little time showing an announced sellout crowd in the American Airlines Center that his fifth full NBA season could very well be a banner one for the 6-foot-7 Slovenian, who came out firing on all cylinders.
Although the Magic had four players to score in double figures, which enabled the visitors to erase a 21-point deficit and claim a 110-105 victory, it was Dončić who came up big for the Mavericks in the early going.
Dončić scored 10 of the team’s first 15 points in the opening frame as Dallas raced to a 33-15 lead heading into the second quarter.
During Dončić’s early outburst, he scored the game’s first points on a soft floater in the lane, then went on to connect on 5-of-7 of baskets, including 2-of-4 attempts from 3-point range.
As usual, the 23-year-old Dončić was seen often flashing his signature smile as Dallas — thanks in large part to valiant contributions from its starters — came out playing carefree basketball while the Magic had no answers and trailed by as many as 19 in the first quarter.
Dončić, who wasn’t on the floor to begin the second quarter, returned at the 5:48 mark of the period, ultimately knocking down his last of two 3-pointers with 33.1 seconds left in the quarter before calling it a night.
He finished the game with 16 points on 6-of-8 field goals, second only to newly-acquired big man Christian Wood’s game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 attempts in 19-plus minutes.
Although Friday’s loss was Jason Kidd’s first in the preseason since taking over as the team’s head coach — Dallas won each of its five preseason games last year — Dončić nevertheless, garnered high praise from his coach. Once again.
During his postgame media availability session, Kidd was asked to assess the performance by the Mavs superstar, who did not travel with the team for its preseason opener against Oklahoma City.
Earlier this week, a host of league executives named Dončić as the favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award.
According to an annual NBA GM Survey, 48 percent of general managers voted for Dončić to win MVP.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo received 34 percent of votes, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid 14 percent, and Golden State’s Stephen Curry amassed three percent of the votes.
After witnessing Dončić for the first time this season Friday night, Kidd seemed to have echoed the league executives on whom he senses is the favorite to come away with the NBA’s most covenant individual award.
AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED
“Oh, he’s the MVP tonight,” Kidd said of Dončić’s display against Orlando. “He looked great. You know, being able to go the full quarter there in the first, being able to control the game, he can get to the basket. He can shoot the three. I thought he did great on both ends of the floor.”
After trailing for a majority of the game, Orlando rallied in the second half with the Mavs’ starters on the bench.
Trailing by a point, the Magic went in front for the first time, 86-84, on a 3-pointer by Mo Bamba, capturing a lead they would never relinquish.
Orlando’s largest margin had reached 12 when Aleem Ford putback a missed three by Caleb Houstan with inside of two minutes remaining in the fourth.
Dallas ends the preseason on the road at Utah on Friday.
Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder/Publisher & Editor In Chief of Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson has covered the National Basketball Association since 2010. To reach Johnson, call him at 901-690-6587 or send email to 
