Jason Kidd Says Officiating Distracted Mavs in Loss to Celtics; Luka Doncic Disagrees

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd believes officiating derailed his team's focus in a loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday, but Luka Doncic put the blame on himself while praising Boston's defense.

The Dallas Mavericks suffered a second consecutive loss at the hands of the NBA-leading Boston Celtics on Monday night in a game that could have very well been won if the correct energy had been present on Dallas' end.

Despite winning the first and fourth quarters, the Mavs' lack of defense in the second and third quarters doomed them in the 119-110 loss. The Celtics have the best defensive rating in the Eastern Conference and the second-best in the entire league behind the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it showed.

"I think their ability to switch -- the starting five, they can switch. After that, it gets a little dicey. But I thought again, we had some great looks. We missed some bunnies tonight that we normally have made here in the past. We had good looks at 3s," Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. "I think we just grew a little bit frustrated with the officiating and we lost our focus. We've got to do better."

Kidd continued: "You have to move on to the next play, and we've talked about that over and over. Sometimes the maturity, it takes time. We've been inconsistent in that department where we can get caught up with the officials rather than just staying focused on the game. No one is going to be perfect from player to official to coach, so you've got to just continue to do your job.

"I thought we got frustrated there and they took advantage of that. Again, they created a lot of 3s. They weren't making them early on and then they did. That's what a good team does -- they find their rhythm and they start making shots. For us, we had to continue to keep driving the ball, putting pressure on them. Again, we had some great looks that just didn't go down and that carried over for a minute or two or three. We just can't have that against one of, if not, the best team in the league."

Luka Doncic, who ended up with a massive stat line of 33 points, a season-high 18 rebounds and 13 assists, disagreed with Kidd's assessment about the officiating affecting the Mavs' play.

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“That's what he said? I don't know. I played bad and missed a lot of layups. They [the Celtics] are an amazing team," Doncic said. "They are No. 1 in the NBA. They have great defense. They have two guys who can really play basketball really well, and all-around other guys that can really play too. So they have an amazing team and that is why they are No. 1.”

Despite Doncic surpassing Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on the league's all-time 30-point triple-double list, his efficiency was lacking. The four-time All-NBA First Teamer thinks it just wasn't his night.

“I think I just missed a lot of layups," Doncic said. "On that one possession I missed three in a row wide open. I just think it wasn't my night tonight."

Having lost two consecutive games, the Mavs are now 24-19 on the season and have dropped to eighth-place in the Western Conference standings after previously being in fifth-place. With a massive home matchup with the red-hot Phoenix Suns coming up on Wednesday, Kidd, Doncic and the rest of the crew must all be on the same page in order to get a big bounce-back win.