HOUSTON — Christian Wood doesn’t know how he thought of the analogy to describe his budding friendship with Luka Doncic.
Maybe he felt hungry after a 21-point, seven-rebound, five-block, four-assist game to help the Mavericks beat the Rockets on Monday night.
Or maybe he wanted some dessert to celebrate Dallas’ first seven-game winning streak since the 2011 championship season.
Regardless, “we just go together like ice cream and fudge,” Wood said.
Sweet like the Mavericks hoped.
As Wood has become the team’s regular starting center and Doncic has established himself as an MVP frontrunner, fans have received a closer look at the duo’s on-court chemistry that’s helped propel the Mavericks’ midseason run up the Western Conference standings.
Behind-the-scenes insight about their humor and personal bond underscores the cohesion.
“He’s a fun-loving guy. He likes to joke. He has a smile on his face. He’s smart,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said of Wood, whom he coached for two seasons in Houston before the early offseason trade to Dallas.
As a Rick Carlisle assistant during Doncic’s first two NBA seasons, Silas also knows: “That’s Luka, too. They [both] enjoy moments where they can joke around and get on each other at times, but it’s all in fun, and once they get to the court, it’s business.”
Statistics show a clear connection.
Of the Mavericks’ 10 two-player lineup combinations to play at least 600 minutes together this season, the Doncic-Wood pairing ranked second in offensive rating (120 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive rating (112.8 points per 100 possessions) and third in net rating (plus-7.1) over 32 games.
In pick-and-roll situations, Wood is shooting 68.3% from the floor and scoring 1.49 points per possession. As a roller this season, he ranks sixth among all NBA bigs with 56 baskets and fifth with 146 total points.
Pick-and-roll aficionado Doncic, meanwhile, has run 370 sets as the ball handler this season (third most in the NBA) and scored the second-most points (398).
In simpler terms: The Mavericks are 7-1 in games Doncic and Wood have started together this season, all since Dec. 19.
“CWood’s pick-and-pops are really, really hard to guard,” Silas said after game-planning to face Doncic, Wood and the Mavericks three times in an 11-day stretch. “It’s difficult when the person passing to him is scoring 50 every night, but he’s definitely finding his rhythm.
“He’s getting better as the season goes along. We saw them early [in November], and it seemed like he was a little out of sorts, but over the last little while, he’s been very good for them, and Luka has a way of making the players around him better, and I’m happy for him for that.”
Perhaps not happy all the time, such as a couple weeks ago when Doncic barked at Wood during a break in play in Minnesota because Wood didn’t follow his direction for a double-team pick.
Or Monday when Doncic raised his arms in frustration after Rockets guard Jalen Green blew past Wood for a dunk midway through the first quarter.
Ironically, that’s actually when Doncic respects Wood’s approach most.
”He doesn’t get mad if sometimes I yell at him,” Doncic said. “That’s what I appreciate because in the game, I’m a lot. Just sometimes it’s hard to be with me on the floor. I just want to win. But he appreciates that. He never gets mad, and he listens to me. I listen to him. It’s working great.”
And, Doncic added, Wood is still learning — to match his sense of humor.
“No, no,” Doncic countered when asked about his similarities with Wood. “He has no sense of humor. No. I tell him my jokes. My jokes are great, so he’s learning from me.”
Really?
“It’s more dad jokes,” Doncic said. “It’s OK. They’re great jokes.”
Just like with the Mavericks’ rotation-heavy defense, Wood has started to catch on.
He and Doncic share the front corner of the Mavericks’ locker room in American Airlines Center and often banter in passing before games. Sometimes, no words, just a bump on the arm or a quick look.
After Doncic’s 60-point triple-double Dec. 27 against the Knicks, Wood joked he would buy Doncic a ‘greatest of all time’ GOAT for his Slovenian farm — “It’s on the way,” he joked this week — and after their leading 30-plus-point performances on Christmas, Wood revealed Doncic’s secret taste for fancy cars.
“He has a lot of nice cars,” Wood said, “but don’t tell him I told you.”
As the Mavericks evaluate trade-deadline options and Wood’s long-term contract potential, their levity has contrasted Doncic’s cordial but stiff relationship with his last leading big man, Kristaps Porzingis.
For a 26-year-old center playing for his seventh team in seven NBA seasons and a 23-year-old phenom with no co-star, that’s just how they want it.
”Luka’s competitive, wants to win, and so he can say things that can be sometimes hard, and people have a hard time digesting it,” coach Jason Kidd said. “But I think C-Wood understands he’s competitive, wants to win, and he wants to help Luka win, so he’s able to digest what Luka says and keeps going.”
