Can Mavericks turn things around before postseason?
The Dallas Mavericks are … struggling.
As of late, the Mavs are teetering on the verge of collapse, with the Kyrie Irving-Luka Dončić experiment leaving the team on the outside of the play-in tournament looking in.
On Monday's "Undisputed," Skip Bayless explained why he doesn't have faith that the new-look Mavs will be able to pull it together in time — and it has a lot to do with the lack of chemistry and output between the team's two superstars.
"The Dallas Mavericks, last year, won the conference semifinal round by ousting the defending Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns. Remember that? Game 7 — blew them off their own court. They lost in the conference finals, last year, to Golden State in five games, but they made it to the conference finals.
"At this moment, it appears very distinctly and strongly that they're not even going to even make the play-in tournament. … They just lost back to back — home and then away — to the now-25-51 Charlotte Hornets. … [The fans started booing] and Kyrie went off on the fans after the game. … It looks like [Dončić] is not having fun the way he used to on the basketball court."
Shannon Sharpe also doesn't believe that Dallas will be able to turn the tide in time.
However, Sharpe pointed to a different reason as to why not.
"They don't play defense," Sharpe said. "That's the biggest issue. We know Luka. He can be efficient at times, but he's really not an efficient player. He takes a lot of shots. He had 40 points (Sunday) but it took him 29 shots to get it. He was 7-for-16 from the 3. These shots aren't great shots that he's taking. … A lot of times, he's putting his team in harm's way.
"They got outrebounded by 21 rebounds. The Charlotte Hornets! … They beat you by 21 on the glass?"
Dončić leads the Mavs with 33.1 points per game this season in 60 games, while new-addition Irving checks in second on the leaderboard with 27 points per game after just 15 appearances with Dallas thus far.
The Mavs are 36-39 on the season amid a four-game losing streak and currently sit 11th in the Western Conference.
The play-in tournament includes teams with the seventh- to the tenth-highest winning percentages in each conference. Dallas is one game behind the 10th place Oklahoma City Thunder and the ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers (both 37-38).
The Mavs haven't missed the postseason since the 2018-2019 campaign, the same season that Dončić was awarded NBA Rookie of the Year. If they miss the play-in this year, it will mark the first time since the 2013-14 season that Irving will not appear in the postseason, having made it to the playoffs during his entire tenure with Brooklyn (2019-23), Boston (2017-19) and his final four years with Cleveland (2011-17).
Read more:
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