Getty Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks lost their third straight game on Friday night, when they fell to the lowly Charlotte Hornets, 117-109. Dallas’ defeat dropped their record to 36-38 on the season, which has them sitting out of the postseason in 11th place out West (as of 11:46 p.m. on March 24).
The Mavericks got punked on their home floor. They allowed the Hornets, who have the league’s fourth-worst record, to score 69 first half points against them Friday. Dallas was unable to dig themselves out of the first-half hole, eventually dropping what should’ve been an easy win at a crucial point in the year.
After his team’s disaster of a performance, head coach Jason Kidd didn’t hold back. When sitting down for his postgame press conference, he took the opportunity to tear his Mavs squad apart.
“That was awful. Dogs—,” Kidd said via Sports Illustrated’s Grant Afseth. “Just understanding the talk before the game of what we’re playing for, playoffs or championship, and to come out, you know, in that first half, but more or less the first quarter and give up 37, the interest level wasn’t high, you know? You know, disappointing… When you look at our two guys, I think they were 3-of-17 from the three. (We) got great looks, they just didn’t go down.”
When asked about the Mavericks’ effort level in the first half after giving up 69 points to the Hornets, Jason Kidd described the effort as “dogshit.”
“That was awful. Dogshit. Just understanding the talk before the game of what we’re playing for, playoffs or championship, and…
Jason Kidd Agrees With Fans Who Booed Mavericks vs. Hornets
Like the team’s head coach, Dallas’ fans in the arena weren’t pleased with the team’s showing against Charlotte.
After the halftime break and early in the third quarter, boos began to echo around the American Airlines Center.
Charlotte 69, Mavs 55 at halftime. A smattering of boos.
When Kidd was asked about the crowd’s reaction to his players’ poor performance, he explained that he felt as if they should’ve been booed sooner.
“Probably should have been booed in the first quarter, just the effort in the play,” he claimed. “They [the fans] have a right [to boo], they paid to see a better show. It wasn’t there until the second half. We can’t come out like that, especially this time of the year.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd, when asked about the team getting booed by the American Airlines Center crowd in the third quarter:
“Probably should have been booed in the first quarter, just the effort in the play. They [the fans] have a right [to boo], they paid to see a better show.…
Jason Kidd Praises Mavs’ Luka Doncic After Loss to Warriors
Friday’s loss to the Hornets marked Luka Doncic‘s second game back from injury. Doncic tallied a game-high 34 points, to go along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
His first game back came on Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors. The 24-year-old guard impressed in his return, tallying 30 points, 17 assists, and 7 rebounds in the 127-125 loss to the Warriors.
The defeat came at an inopportune time, as the Mavs were, and still are, battling for postseason positioning with the Dubs. As of March 24, the two teams are separated by just two games in the standings.
Despite the loss, Kidd’s tone when discussing his star’s return to the floor, was a bit different than it had been after the Charlotte game.
“Yeah, I thought he looked great,” Kidd said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “I mean, for the 10-plus days that he was out, to play under 40 minutes, I thought he looked good. One of the positives [is that] we came out healthy. And so now we gotta go back to work tomorrow to get ready for Charlotte.”
Spoiler alert, they weren’t ready for Charlotte. However, they’ll have another crack at the Hornets on Sunday for the second leg of a back-to-back series.