Mavs Step Back: Little Help for Luka Doncic in Loss vs. Nuggets; Lookahead to Red-Hot Clippers
Heading into Monday night's matchup with the defending-champion Denver Nuggets, it was assumed by many that the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks would be in for a long night in the Mile High City, and that assumption was spot on.
Down Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively II and Josh Green, Luka Doncic put his best foot forward, tallying 38 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists while shooting 13-24 overall and 6-12 from deep. Unfortunately for Dallas, Doncic didn't much help in Denver, especially from the 3-point line, as Tim Hardaway Jr. and Derrick Jones Jr. combined to shoot 2-14 from beyond the arc.
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“It’s tough,” Doncic said. “We have five, six players out that play a lot of minutes for us, so it’s tough. But we have to have a better mentality. It’s got to be next man up. And we’ve got to be way better with our energy during the game.”
On today's episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, we recap the Mavs' 130-104 blowout loss to the Nuggets, including why Doncic's plus/minus of -29 didn't match the eye test of his great individual performance, the continued struggles of Grant Williams, and Jones shooting just 15.4 percent from deep over his last five games.
Next up, the Mavs will take on Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers, who have won eight games in a row. Despite having an injury-plagued roster, should we expect the Mavs to play the role of "streak busters" in Wednesday's game? All that and more is discussed on today's show.
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