‘My energy was lacking’: Luka Doncic blames Dallas Mavs loss to Pels

[ad_1]

It is now.

Losing to below-par teams is destined to hurt a team down the stretch of the Western Conference’s tight standings. Only two games separate the hopeful playoff franchises between fourth and 10th seed.

And the Dallas Mavericks just lost to an below average team.

Friday night’s opponent stands outside the playoff photo. … like in a rematch of Wednesday night’s resounding victory, the injured New Orleans Pelicans faced the Mavs led by Luka Doncic at AAC and the historically efficient scoring performances of the Mavericks in the last game did not continue, Dallas falling to the underdog Pelicans 107-91.

After an incredible 68.7% shooting performance, naturally you would expect Dallas to come back down to earth. But the Mavs have just lost to a team which now, with the victory, is 6-18. As our columnist Richie Whitt writes, the Mavs have “two faces”.

Not only did the Mavericks’ shot drop, but the turnovers produced in the first quarter set an unhappy tone. At the start, the Mavericks committed eight turnovers, Luka Doncic spitting the ball six times… while traveling to Dallas, committing 15 turnovers.

“This game is for me,” Doncic said. “My energy was down.”

The Mavericks were leading 48-44 at halftime, but the Pelicans continued a 9-0 streak early in the second half, with the key player being Brandon Ingram, who had his best game of the season with 24. points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and 9 of 11 shots for the Pelicans, who, in all fairness, are 6-6 in their last 12 games.

The Pelicans do it without an injured Zion Williamson, just like here Dallas needed an extra spark with Kristaps Porzingis out with a bruised knee. But as is too often the case, changing the starting XI (Maxi Kleber for coach Jason Kidd’s club) didn’t work, and the only Mav capable of making real “sparks” consistently is Doncic, who struggled here with turnovers (seven) and 3-point shots (0 of 6) about to finish with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

“It’s a different game,” Kidd said, explaining how Dallas could beat the Pels like he did one night and then do it the next day. “We have to understand this. We have to be adults about it.”

Dallas, who fell to 11-10, has a chance to get the bad taste out of their mouths on Saturday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Yes, the second night of a back-to-back, meaning “now” is coming quickly. And so, maybe, it’s time for Dallas to look at some real business-minded shifts in its approach to get serious about getting involved in those tunes – tight NBA rankings.

[ad_2]