Mavs Superstars Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Dominate in Win vs. Sixers: 3 Big Takeaways
DALLAS — In a much needed bounce-back game against a Philadelphia 76ers team that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Dallas Mavericks managed to win 133-126 on Thursday.
Both teams came out of the gate hot, and the momentum continued for the Mavs, but slowed down for the Sixers in the third quarter. Dallas scored a combined 110 points through three quarters and led 110-91 entering the final period. Philadelphia used a 15-0 run at the start of the quarter to make it a tightly contested game.
Here are three takeaways from the Mavs' win over the Sixers:
3. Mavs' Best Defense is Offense
The Mavs used a scorching hot perimeter shooting performance, making 25-of-48 (52.1 percent) attempts from deep, to help overcome a 60-to-34 disadvantage in points in the paint. Needing to overcome a lack of defensive prowess with offensive firepower was to be expected given the matchup involved Joel Embiid taking on a defense that is giving up 60 points in the paint on a nightly basis.
"Defensively, in this league right now everybody’s scoring and you’re talking about one of the best teams, in Philly," Kidd said. "I thought again we did our best with [Joel] Embiid and he still ended up with 35. That’s how good he is and so this is a big for us after the last two, but again we still have a long way to go. Maxi [Kleber] again was big for us. You know had the five fouls, but I thought DP [Dwight Powell] did a really good job too.”
While the Mavs often fail to contain on the perimeter when guarding the ball and lack an interior presence, when their offense is clicking, there are few teams that can match their level of firepower. Embiid had 35 points and the Sixers also received 29 from Tyrese Maxey and 27 from James Harden, but they still lost.
For the Mavs to make it deep in the playoffs, the concern obviously isn't whether Doncic or Irving fit together. There is some need to establish familiarity, but the underlying results of the two working at a high level is clear. The real calculus to solve will be defensive execution with their personnel come playoff time.
“The only thing, the offense I don’t think is a problem … just on the defensive end. We play a team like Philly who is one of the best in the NBA and showed them what we can do.”
When the Mavs' had established a game-high 25-point lead, they nearly allowed the Sixers to rally back after the offense began to sputter. There is still a need for Irving to get comfortable with the half-court offense to maximize the offense in non-Luka minutes, but again, it's clear heavy firepower is needed to overcome this defense.
2. Kyrie Irving Looked More Comfortable
During the Mavs' loss against the Pacers, it marked the first time that Irving hadn't reached the 20-point mark in a game since being traded to the team. He finished with only 16 points on 7-18 shooting from the floor without a made 3-pointer. This outing came after he had more field goal attempts (22) than points (21) against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Irving had told reporters after Tuesday's game that he received advice from his dad — one of his harshest critics — to be more aggressive and naturally play his game. Instead of overthinking the game by trying to fit in, being the player that he has always been was a priority in Thursday's game.
"I'm human. I would love to play well, every single night I was just texting with my dad — my biggest fan, one of my harshest critics," Irving said after Tuesday's game. "But he's always gonna keep it honest, and I appreciate that. He's been watching me play for a long time, and he just told me to stay aggressive, and he looked like I was overthinking out there. And I was just telling him like that we have new lineups. I'm playing with new guys out there. It's an adjustment period."
The results were much different from Irving just a few days later. He put up 40 points and six assists while shooting 15-22 overall, while going 6-8 from 3-point range. Whether he was running a high pick-and-roll, coming off an off-ball screen, attacking a closeout out of the corner, or breaking down a defender in isolation, he had the complete package against a defense anchored by Embiid.
"Yeah, just being more assertive and just playing ball at a high level. I’ve been doing it my whole life, so there’s nothing really to overthink," Irving said. "I just wanted to show how I could just prepare and just come ready to play a game, and my teammates know that they can depend on me.”
1. Mavs' Superstars Set the Tone
It doesn't take a basketball savant to know that when things are clicking for both Doncic and Irving at the same time, the two can combine for an incredible performance. They did just that against the Sixers by combining for 82 points and becoming the first Mavs teammates to score 40 points in the same game.
“Yeah, I think just those two understand they’re leaders of the team," Kidd said. "They set the tone, not just finding each other, but playing off one another. Their gravity being able to find their teammates. I thought Reggie [Bullock] there in the second half with the wide-open 3s was big for us."
The nuances of fitting alongside Doncic are noticeably becoming more comfortable for Irving. Overall, Doncic had 12 assists with eight of them leading to made field goals by Irving. There was a much more natural synergy between the two superstars throughout the game when theys hared the floor.
"I just gotta keep it up and stay consistent in terms of just being prepared for when he's gonna pass and getting used to his flow in the game and not necessarily just waiting for Luka to get me the ball,' Irving said. "But also going to get it myself and initiating our offense and doing the little things to put my teammates in the best position, just like Luka's been doing."
Irving explained: "It has been an adjustment, and again, it's one game, but it's exciting when you come in here after a win and talk about the successful things you did and what we can learn moving forward."
When Irving is playing his best basketball, it helps Doncic to do the same. However, Doncic was never concerned about how he'd fit with Irving. Right now, getting defensive stops as a team remains the priority.
"Playing with Kai is so easy," Doncic said "He helps me a lot. The offense I don't think is a problem. I think offensively, we're good. It's just the defensive end. We've got to get stops."
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