Big Easy? Anything But, As Hobbled Mavs Fall to Pelicans: 5 Big Takeaways
NEW ORLEANS – As if losing Wednesday's game to the New Orleans Pelicans wasn't already bad enough with the Western Conference standings being as tight as they are, the Dallas Mavericks had injury added to their insult, as Luka Doncic left late in the third quarter with a thigh strain and didn't return.
Despite Doncic's absence, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Mavs put up a valiant effort on the second night of a back-to-back.
Down 78-63 when Doncic exited the game with 2:39 left in the third, Irving led a fourth-quarter surge that got the Mavs within 110-106 with 39 seconds remaining, but it wasn't enough. When the buzzer sounded, the Pelicans captured a 113-106 victory in front of a raucous Smoothie King Center crowd.
Here are five big takeaways from Wednesday's contest:
Too Little, Too Late For Jason Kidd's Rotation Changes
Jason Kidd had a stellar first season as the Mavs' head coach, as he guided his team to the Western Conference Finals. However, this season hasn't been as easy-going.
Although there is plenty of blame to go around in what was yet another disappointing Mavs loss, Kidd's commitment to playing certain players despite what the box score is telling him is baffling at times. Christian Wood isn't a perfect player by any means, but the fact that Frank Ntilikina and Markieff Morris checked into the game before he did in the first quarter tells you where Kidd's mindset is.
Wood ended up with 15 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes while shooting an efficient 6-10 from the field, so his situation ended up being fine in this one despite the weird start, but other areas of the rotation were so bad that it was just too much for Dallas to overcome.
Buyout signee Justin Holiday, who Kidd inexplicably started in place of Josh Green for a few games before coming back to his senses, played 16 minutes off the bench against the Pelicans and was a team-worst -30 on the night. Frank Ntilikina, who played nine minutes off the bench, was a -16, which was second-worst on the team. Both players put up a combined zero points on 0-6 shooting, five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
In yet another game that ended up coming down to the wire, coaching can be the difference. Players ultimately decide whether a team wins or loses a game, but it's Kidd's job to manage who plays and when they play with the team's best interest in mind.
Luka Doncic Should've Never Played in New Orleans
Doncic came into Wednesday's game bruised and battered, as he was shooting just 39 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep over his previous two games. Although the Western Conference standings are tight, Doncic probably should've never played in this one due to obvious signs of him not being quite right in the last two outings.
Doncic finished with just 15 points on 4-14 shooting before leaving the game in the third with what the team called a thigh strain. He's set to have an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury.
We're sure Doncic had a say in playing against the Pelicans, but in this particular situation, the writing was on the wall, and the Mavs should've stepped in and given him the night off in preparation for the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Now, they'll have to hope the injury isn't something that will require Doncic to miss extended time in the most important stretch of the season.
"We all can see that [Luka’s] not moving well — shooting, defense — it's affecting everything,” Kidd said. “He's trying to fight through it and help his teammates, but he had to leave there. Hopefully, it's not something serious. We have a couple days here before we play Memphis. Hopefully, he's back soon."
If Kyrie Irving Is Healthy, Mavs Will Always Have a Chance
As the fourth quarter began with the now Doncic-less Mavs down 18 … on the road … in their third game in four nights … I mumbled to myself on a few separate occasions, “this one is over.”
Ultimately, that gut feeling ended up being right, but Irving’s never-say-die fourth-quarter prowess was enough to make you believe the Mavs had a chance to pull off a shocker in New Orleans. He finished with a team-high 27 points on just 10-24 shooting, six rebounds and four assists in 41 minutes.
Even with Doncic potentially missing time in these next few games, Irving still gives the Mavs a chance to win if the rotation decisions around him are up to par.
Jaden Hardy Needs More of an Opportunity
One bright spot for the Mavs aside from Irving's late-game surge was the fourth-quarter play of rookie Jaden Hardy, who finished with 11 points on 4-5 shooting in 17 minutes off the bench. He was a +3 in those minutes, and he also had the most electrifying play of the night when he posterized Pelicans big man Jaxson Hayes while also getting the foul call.
"He gave us some energy, [some] life," Kidd said of Hardy. "Being able to put him in play, he hasn't played. I thought he responded positively [for] a rookie. He helped us. Going down the stretch with the injuries that we've had, we might have to look to play him a little bit more."
Even without the injuries the Mavs have had, playing Hardy more seems like a win-win situation. Dallas isn't playing any defense anyway and has now lost seven of its last 10 games, so why not give the 20-year-old rookie a real chance to get more experience under his belt? This is an easy call that Kidd has the power to make happen.
What is there to lose other than more games? The Mavs have already lost 33 of them – three more than last season with 15 games remaining.
McCollum Put Pelicans on His Back in Fourth Quarter
C.J. McCollum did his best Kyrie Irving impression on Wednesday night, as he scored 16 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter along. Every time the Mavs got closer to completely erasing a 19-point deficit, McCollum was there to big three after big three in clutch time.
McCollum was 6-8 from deep on the night, and it was the third time in his career where he poured in at least six 3s on the Mavs. All three of those games have come in the last two years.
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