Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and Aaron Nesmith of the Indiana pacers.
The Dallas Mavericks have been sliding down a rocky slope as of late and are currently outside of the postseason picture. If they want to make any sort of noise in the playoffs, or make the playoffs at all, they need to start figuring things out very soon.
On Tuesday night, they took care of business against the Indiana Pacers, dominating the game from the second quarter on. Luka Doncic made a few ridiculous passes throughout the game, and after the contest, head coach Jason Kidd spoke about one of his amazing passes.
“Pretty cool. Which one, though? He had a couple of them that were pretty cool,” Kidd said via the Mavericks’ official YouTube channel. “He was kind of trapped. I think that’s what he does. He’s one of the best passers in the league. He can find guys. He’s strong enough. I don’t know if anybody else can make that pass. And then, to be able to catch and shoot, Hardy did that not just once, but a couple of times tonight from Luka’s double-teams and are off some of the passes. Again, he can make passes most guys can’t.”
Not only is Doncic one of the best scorers in the league, but he’s also one of the best playmakers. His ability to create open shots for his teammates is unlike many others around the NBA, and it’s up to his teammates to capitalize on his work.
Against the Pacers, Doncic had a solid game. He finished the night with 25 points, seven rebounds, and six assists on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-10 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Kyrie Irving Sounds Off on Luka Doncic
Meanwhile, after the Mavericks’ recent loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Kyrie Irving spoke about Doncic’s recent comments regarding his frustration.
“I’m sure he’s had some private time to acknowledge it, but when he acknowledges it in a public eye, I think it’s usually suppressed emotions from a long period of time and he just wanted to get it out off of his chest, and I’m proud of him for being honest and open,” Irving said via Sports Illustrated’s Grant Afseth. “We obviously talked about it in the locker room briefly, but for me, I’ve said throughout my whole entire year, this past year, of just really paying attention to the human element. The wins and losses come and go, but the kind of nitpicking of judgment of what’s going on when someone says, ‘I’m having human emotions,’ and then it goes to what’s the blame or who’s the blame? And it starts pointing fingers. You know, that’s the aspect that I don’t enjoy about this sport at all. There’s a human element that goes into this where we perform every single day. You know, this is a 24/7 job. I don’t think people realize that, at times, that are not entrenched with us…”
Kyrie Irving Discusses Mavericks Struggles
In addition, Irving spoke about the Mavericks’ recent woes.
“It’s definitely making or missing shots, but like I said, kind of like a week ago, just trying my best to manage this [foot injury] and there’s a lot of desperation basketball that needs to be played down the stretch, especially where we are in the season and also in the standings,” he said via Afseth.
