Mavs Donuts: Luka Doncic's Road, Steph Curry's 'Sad' Gesture, Skip Bayless' 'WestBrick'

The recent five-game win streak was just snapped, but coach Jason Kidd is ready to begin another streak - kinda.

Dallas Mavs Donuts, freshly baked daily for your MFFL enjoyment as we get ready for a roadie ...

DONUT 1: READY FOR ROADIE? The Mavs (40-26) are at Houston (17-49) tonight as they sit in the No. 5 slot in the West playoff race. (Game preview here.) Oh, and DallasBasketball.com will be in Houston for full coverage.

Their recent five-game win streak was just snapped, but coach Jason Kidd is ready to begin another streak - kinda.

“We had a great homestand,” said Kidd of his team's 3-1 run at American Airlines Center. “Sometimes you're going to lose a game and tonight was the night. ... Now we go out on the road for five. ... It's over.''

"It's over meaning that loss to the Knicks is over.

But ...

DONUT 2: THE GOAL Kidd also said, “Our goal is to come back above 500.''

Is it just me ... or is that a rather modest "goal''?

DONUT 3: TRAIN WRECK Our old pal Nerlens Noel may be on the verge of a shutdown. He's got a problem with plantar fasciitis and in the Knicks' recent win over Dallas didn't even bother sitting on the bench. In New York, they're calling it "a train wreck of a season, a crash.''

DONUT 4: 'THIS IS MY GYM!' Speaking of the Knicks, hey, Julius Randle - it ain't braggin' if it's true. Sorry, Mavs.

DONUT 5: SAD How much odd bitterness oozes out on social media?

Remember the girl who was devastated when Steph missed the last game in Denver? Steph Curry just made her year. pic.twitter.com/c9iyGJhuAx

— Mike Singer (@msinger) March 11, 2022

So much that when Steph Curry reached out for a nice gesture to a girl sitting court-side ... people on Twitter attacked the girl, suggesting she deserves no such sympathy because somebody is obviously well-off-enough financially to get her good seats.

Sad.

DONUT 6: 'WESTBRICK' The problem with the hatefulness driving the "Russell Westbrick'' nickname for the struggling Lakers star Westbrook isn't fans hooting it at him; fans, unfortunately, are not required to bring dignity to the arena along with their ticket.

No, the problem is that "Westbrick'' is, as near as I can tell, the product of the soiled mind of Skip Bayless.

Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

And some tiny bit of dignity should be required to come to the arena on a press pass.

DONUT 7: COACH FRATELLO'S WATCHING Mike Fratello, the former NBA coach and broadcaster says he's not watching sports much on TV anymore.

“When I get up in the morning, I put CNN on first. When I go to sleep, it’s on,” said Fratello, adding of the Ukraine situation, "It's horrendous.''

There is a tie: Fratello for four years was the head coach of Ukraine’s national basketball team.

DONUT 8: BEAL, FINALLY? Bradley Beal has been the apple of Dallas' trade eye forever. Annually, though, he professes his loyalty to Washington.

Is that about to change? Our NBA Rumor Mill is here.

DONUT 9: BASEBALL'S BACK! DFW sports, and sports in general, are better when the plate is full. And yes, that goes for home plate, too. Rangers SI takes you to spring training here.

DONUT 10: LUKA AS MVP? Led by MVP candidate Luka Doncic, a revamped coaching staff and a slew of high-quality role players firing on all cylinders, the Mavs look poised to capture home-court advantage during the last 17 games — something they haven’t done since the 2011 championship season.

If Dallas does that, does Luka inch up in the MVP discussion? Our look.

© Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

DONUT 11: MAVS BALL Yes, DallasBasketball.com even covers the Mavs parties in more depth than anyone! Here's your party invite! 

DONUT 12: QUOTABLE "I think we're good at this point," Nowitzki says of his "cough-cough'' thoughts on Dwyane Wade and LeBron James and the 2011 NBA Finals. "There were some rough patches. We're good now."

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