On Tuesday night, Kyrie Irving missed a three at the buzzer as the Mavs fell to the Pacers 124-122 at American Airlines Center.
Dallas has lost two straight and five of their last six, and they fall to 1-4 with Luka Doncic and Irving on the court together, and three of those four losses have been by three points or less.
After the loss, Doncic, who celebrated his 24th birthday and led the Mavericks with 39 points (14-25 FG), nine rebounds, and six assists, was happy with the look Irving got on that final shot.
“It was a good shot; I think,” Doncic said. “It’s Kyrie. He can make a lot of those shots. We trust him.”
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd added on the final shot: “Great look. Executed the last play, Kai [Kyrie Irving] had the option for the two or the three. He had a good look; I thought it was good.”
Irving, who finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and nine assists, wants to win badly in Dallas but knows it may take time to get chemistry with his teammates.
“Great shot, great look, just didn’t go down,” he said. “Obviously, we had a few different options on that last play, but I just appreciate the coaching staff and my teammates trusting me with that shot. And just the comfort they gave me afterwards. I really want to win here, really put a lot of pressure on myself; at times, I think I need to scale it back a little bit.
“Just because the second half of the season, we’re not going to be great every single possession. Usually, these learning curves and learning moments happen in preseason, but it’s happening now. It puts a glaring eye on what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong; easy to criticize, but for us, I just got to focus on being the best that I can be. I got to focus on showing up, not just for Luka [Dončić], but for my teammates.”
Much of the talk is about Doncic and Irving, but according to Doncic, it’s not just about him and Irving; it’s about the whole team.
“I think we should be talking about the whole team because we play as a team,” Doncic said. “We lose, and we win as a team. It’s not just about two players. It is about the whole team. So, we have to do better as a team. That’s it.”
The Mavs(32-31) are not closing out games and have dropped to the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Dallas has to take advantage of this six-game homestand, and right now, they’re 1-2. The next three games will be challenging as the 76ers, Suns, and Jazz are coming to town, so if they don’t want to continue to dip in the standings, they better start figuring some things out.
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