These are difficult times within him Dallas Mavericks. Less than two weeks before the end of the Regular Phase Luka Doncic is close to being out play-in and, consequently, the Playoffs. The competitive shift of Jason Kidd’s men since the end of the trade market has seen the Texans go from one of the five best teams in the West to one of the five worst. The Mavs can’t afford to fail from here until the end and they took the first test with flying colors, winning at home against the Indiana Pacers (127-104).
With four straight losses, two of them against him Charlotte Hornets, set all the alarms going off inside the Mavs. A bad run can happen at any time, especially in an 82-game season, but the timing couldn’t be worse, highlighting the crisis the team is going through. in factLuka Doncic he was not going to be available for this match due to his pick up 16th technique, for which he should be sanctioned for tonight. lucky for dallas the NBA rescinded the foul after reviewing it.
An overhaul that may have saved his season, or at least kept the Mavs alive. A team too reliant on the Slovenian, who was at his best to beat the Pacers. With 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists by Luka Doncic was the best in Dallas in all of these statistics, adding a number of 8 of 17 on field goals (47.1%) and 4 of 10 from three-point range (40%).
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Despite what the result might suggest, it wasn’t an easy night for the former Real Madrid man. The Pacers, led by their former coach, Rick Carlisle, they put up a tough duel, with a specific shot against the star consisting of trying to grab the ball from his hands and which he never got comfortable with. However, the Balkans responded with brilliant actions like this one:
There are no limits for Luka Doncic
From corner to corner 😳pic.twitter.com/QnOd60eiaD
— Sportingnewses Spain 🇪🇸 (@sportingnewses) March 28, 2023
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Overall, this was a game where the Mavs’ angst as well as their need to win was verified. Dazed in some spots, disconnected on both ends of the court and a different rotation than Kidd defined his performance against some pacemakers extremely wrong (28.6% in triples).
🌀🌀🌀 pic.twitter.com/1VwEGkHiNi
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 28, 2023
Kyrie Irving, who has been struggling physically for several weeks, barely managed to contribute (16 goals in 30 minutes), surprisingly the rookie Jaden Hardy with 20 points on 12 games coming from the bench.
Meanwhile, for Indiana, Benedict Maturin was the number one with 26 points and 47.4% shooting against Tyrish Halliburton. On the other hand, TJ McConnell (15 points, 7 assists) and Andrew Nembhard (17 points, 5 assists) contributed to the Pacers.
With the win, Dallas moves to 37-39, a half game out of the Play-In, before traveling to Philadelphia to face the 76ers on Wednesday. For their part, the Pacers nearly bid adieu to the postseason as they sit in twelfth, 3.5 games out of tenth and on a 3-game losing streak.
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