While consecutive losses to the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors are understandable, the back-to-back misfortunes in the hands of the Charlotte Hornets that followed cause real concerns for the Dallas Mavericks. Now winless in their last four outings, the Mavericks currently reside outside the Playoff picture in the Western Conference.
While Dallas started the season in the top flight, they have quickly found themselves in 11th place (36-39) with seven games remaining in the regular season. A 40-point shift from Luka Doncic proved insufficient as the Hornets bested Luka and company 110-104 on Mar. 26. In their previous meeting two days prior, Doncic had 34 points to show but the Hornets still got the upper hand, winning 117-109, without arguably their two best players in LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier in both games.
While the lack of defense from the team is a clear red flag, what other factors could be playing into their rapid decline late in the season? Any team with Doncic and Kyrie Irving, on paper, should not go 0-2 against Charlotte in one week. Perhaps the problem goes deeper than the cast of players around them.
Luka Doncic’s ongoing frustration
Doncic has been the poster boy in Dallas since getting drafted in 2018. Immediately hailed as the Mavs’ new franchise player, there was no doubting his basketball ability from a young age. While he would drop 40 in one night with a smile on his face, he took no nonsense from the opposition. But that has changed over time.
“It’s really frustrating. I think you can see it with me on the court. Sometimes I don’t feel it’s me,” Doncic recently told ESPN. “I’m just being out there, you know? I used to have really fun smiling on the court, but it’s just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball.”
Now in his fifth year in the NBA, perhaps the failure to deliver a championship to Dallas is starting to bear weight on the 24-year-old’s shoulders. While he indicates that reasons outside of basketball add to his frustration, the acquisition of Irving emphasizes the need to produce results. This brings me to my next point.
Having two aces is great, but not perfect
The hopes were high when the Mavericks landed Irving from the Nets near the trade deadline. Here are two of the best players in the NBA, about to join forces. Nobody necessarily knew how or if it would work, but the possibility of seeing something spectacular excited the masses.
So far, the Mavericks are 3-7 when Doncic and Irving both play. And the problem is easy to catch. Aside from both being ball-dominant, neither of these men is a Robin. The Mavericks are dealing with a Batman and Batman situation which, in this case, is causing problems.
Irving worked well with Kevin Durant and LeBron James because he was allowed to work his magic with a dance partner who played a different position. Someone he could dish the ball to when he did not have a shot. On the other hand, Doncic worked well with Jalen Brunson because Brunson understood that Luka needed to catch fire for them to succeed. He was ready to receive the baton when Doncic slowed down. Now working with another star with an almost identical style, Doncic, and Irving have been caught playing awkward games of hot potato with the ball.
Understanding that this is Doncic’s team, Irving has taken the backseat in some cases. He scored 18 points in both games against Charlotte, which is low for someone averaging 27.1 points per game this season. But as the results suggest, that is not how you win with Irving. The Mavericks urgently have to find a way for Doncic and Irving to flourish collectively. At the same time, both men have to pay more effort into making the formula work. Should Doncic and Irving get numbers that match their talent on a nightly basis, they can do some real damage in the West, but is it too late for them?
An early offseason would be absolutely embarrassing for the Mavericks. On the bright side, if they miss the postseason or suffer an early exit in the playoffs, they will have more time to regroup and figure things out. That’s if they decide to keep pursuing the Kyrie and Luka experiment.
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Author: Leocciano Callao
March 27, 2023 | 5:02 pm
