In 11th place in the Western Conference, Dallas finds itself in a critical position after conceding the 40th defeat of its season in Philadelphia, while OKC, current tenth, won on the wire against Detroit.
The Doncic-Irving duo realize that the prospect of missing out on the “postseason” is getting dangerously close.
“It’s clearly frustrating. We were in contention for a playoff spot, and now we’re trying to make the play-in, so clearly it’s frustrating.”thus lamented Luka Doncic after the meeting. “I don’t think it’s about cohesion. We just have to win our matches, that’s all.
Does Kyrie Irving regret his transfer during the season?
The situation is all the more complicated for Kyrie Irving, on whom all eyes are on and who will inevitably be very criticized if Dallas were to miss the finals. It must be said that when he played his first game in his new colors, the Mavericks were still fourth in the West!
“I think that now, compared to where we are in the season and the position of the other teams, it looks like we are in a big mess, to be honest with you”, did he recognize. “Because we are at 37 wins and 40 losses, and we are trying to fight to enter play-in. I think that no player in our locker room, nor me, arriving during the season, expected that.
The former Nets player also seems to measure today the risk he took by asking to leave Brooklyn during the season, with the obligation to join another group during the campaign.
“I didn’t expect to ask for a trade at this time of the season. I wanted to finish the season with Brooklyn, and I didn’t have the chance to do so. So some of the goals that I had set had to be changed, and I had to be more than willing, which I always am, to be flexible and adapt and accept the consequences of that, whether one qualifies for the playoffs or not. I have to be at peace with where I am, and I am, and trust the guys I go to war with every day. So I’m grateful that they give me this opportunity. It’s been great here, and I’ve been at peace. Apart from the defeats of course, everything went well.he added.
Jason Kidd’s Coué Method
In his role, Jason Kidd for his part tried to take some pressure off his tandem, while ensuring that the road leading to the playoffs remained accessible, when he too could pay a high price for a non-qualification, a year after the conference final lost to the Warriors.
“I think it’s still possible. It’s just about believing it. If you believe in it, radiate positive energy, and aren’t selfish, that’s where it all starts. It’s a team thing. We win as a team, we lose as a team and we try to improve as a team,” he hammered. “It’s not just Kyrie and Luka. Everyone had open shots tonight, and we just have to be able to put them (…) We talked about making the right choices, it doesn’t matter if we put the shots in or miss, that’s how it is. What to do. If you start refusing things, the basketball gods will turn on you. So we have to stay united, positive and find a way to win in Miami.”
It is that Dallas (37-40) has certainly only one defeat more than Oklahoma City (38-39), current 10th in the West, but the Thunder has the “tie-breaker”. As a result, the Mavs needed to win two more games than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s squad to overtake them down the stretch. And there are only five games left to play…
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Luka Doncic | 61 | 36.3 | 49.7 | 34.7 | 73.9 | 0.9 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 32.9 |
| Kyrie Irving | 16 | 37.0 | 50.0 | 38.8 | 93.7 | 1.1 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 26.3 |
| Spencer Dinwiddie | 53 | 34.1 | 45.5 | 40.5 | 82.1 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 17.7 |
| Christian Wood | 63 | 26.3 | 51.6 | 36.6 | 77.9 | 1.3 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 16.9 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 67 | 30.2 | 39.1 | 37.6 | 76.6 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 14.0 |
| Josh Green | 56 | 25.5 | 53.5 | 40.5 | 72.0 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.7 | 9.2 |
| Dorian Finney Smith | 40 | 32.2 | 41.6 | 35.5 | 75.0 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 9.1 |
| jade hardy | 42 | 14.6 | 43.9 | 41.5 | 83.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 8.8 |
| Kemba Walker | 9 | 16.0 | 42.1 | 25.0 | 81.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 8.0 |
| Reggie Bullock | 73 | 30.6 | 41.3 | 38.9 | 70.3 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 7.3 |
| Dwight Powell | 71 | 19.6 | 72.6 | 0.0 | 67.9 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 6.9 |
| Maxi Kléber | 33 | 25.9 | 46.1 | 35.6 | 68.6 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 6.1 |
| Javale Mcgee | 38 | 8.1 | 61.6 | 25.0 | 59.5 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 4.2 |
| Davis Bertans | 42 | 10.6 | 42.8 | 39.3 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 4.2 |
| Justin Holiday | 15 | 16.1 | 37.9 | 31.8 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| Mckinley Wright Iv | 25 | 11.3 | 47.3 | 31.8 | 68.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.5 |
| Tyler Dorsey | 3 | 2.8 | 80.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Aj Lawson | 12 | 5.1 | 48.0 | 43.8 | 33.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 2.7 |
| Frank Ntilikina | 45 | 11.8 | 36.0 | 25.0 | 70.4 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
| Markieff Morris | 6 | 5.8 | 50.0 | 42.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| Chris Silva | 1 | 3.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Theo Pinson | 38 | 6.6 | 32.8 | 34.1 | 81.8 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Facundo Campazzo | 8 | 6.5 | 23.1 | 27.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
