Kyrie Irving Speaks on Mavs' Recent Struggles: 'No More Excuses'
Nearly a month ago, when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 118-102 in their first meeting, kick-starting a seven-game winning streak that put the basketball world on notice about their potential when clicking on all cylinders.
On Sunday, the Mavs' 120-116 loss to the 76ers at the American Airlines Center was their fourth in the last five games and perfectly illustrated the up-and-down nature of this season. Fewer teams have illustrated an ability to compete with the best of the best while also losing disappointingly to teams they should be beating.
With the loss, Dallas (34-27) stayed eighth in the West and is 1.5 games removed from the 10th seed while also being two games out of the 5th seed. With such a slim margin of error, Kyrie Irving noted the importance of the Mavs locking in for the final 21 games of the season.
Mar 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) looks to move the ball past Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris (12) during the second half at the American Airlines Center.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
"[We've] got to bring the energy, and [there are] no more excuses," Irving said. "We’ve got 20-some-odd games left. We know the positioning that we’re in right now. We know what happened last year when we didn’t make it. We know how that feels to fail miserably. And we know what it feels like to have the external pressure, too, of our fan base and media."
The Mavs were down by double-digits for most of the third quarter and trailed by as many as 18 points in the fourth. Dallas finally found its groove, closing the game on a 31-17 run, but it was too late against the Joel Embiid-less 76ers.
Luka Doncic had another 30-point triple-double with 38 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Irving scored 28 points and had five rebounds plus four assists. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 21 points off the bench and had seven rebounds.
The Mavs' trade deadline acquisitions, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, have been inconsistent of late. Washington had 13 points, while Gafford mustered four rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes. Irving noted the challenge of getting that tandem up to speed, though the ability to handle that situation differentiates the good teams from the great ones.
"The true testament of a great team is how well they adjust to roles," Irving said. "You don’t allow your emotions to get the best of you because you want to be out there. There are so many little incremental moments in the game when we all could be better. That starts with me, and then on down the line, we just have to have that fluidity of communication and understand that we’re not out of any game."
With 21 games remaining, the Mavs still have plenty of time to right the ship, and with Doncic and Irving, they're capable of getting hot and flying up the standings with a good stretch. But as the season winds down, the pressure mounts for them to find more success consistently.
If Dallas can't find that by the time the play-in or playoffs roll around and lead to a quick postseason exit, hard discussions will need to be had about what needs to be done to ensure the Mavs get the most out of their window with Doncic and Irving.
