There were always going to be some growing pains involved after the Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving.
Kyrie is an exceptional talent but getting on the same wavelength as Luka Doncic has proved to be a bit difficult and that was the case once again on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.
1) Miscommunication between Kyrie & Luka during most important play of game
2) Kyrie signals to Luka after the turnover he was expecting something different
3) Jarred Vanderbilt is hell pic.twitter.com/dyKdvkxBsE
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 26, 2023
The Mavericks were down 108-105 with 15.1 seconds remaining when miscommunication between the two stars led to Luka being unable to hang on to Irving’s inbound pass. Anthony Davis eventually got his hands on it, and the Lakers would go on to win 111-108.
This is the second time this month that the two have botched a play late in the game. Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they kept passing the ball to each other on the final possession and ultimately failed to even get a shot off. They need more time, but they don’t have a whole lot of it, with just 20 games left in this regular season.
Kyrie Irving Explained What Happened On This Botched Possession
Kyrie was unsurprisingly asked after the game about what happened on this critical possession, and he said they just weren’t on the same page.
“I thought Luka needed a little bit more room, so I threw it towards the backcourt,” Kyrie said. “Because I thought Jarred Vanderbilt did a great job denying him. So I thought he was just going to let it bounce like twice and then go grab it. But once I saw him trying to save it from halfcourt, I looked at him maybe like a minute later and was like, ‘You know you go backcourt.’ and he’s like, ‘Ah man, it’s my fault.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s all good.'”
Luka admitted that he got it wrong there, and he probably should have just let it run to the backcourt and then picked it up. The Mavericks would be hoping that these two get all the mistakes out of the way now in the regular season so that it doesn’t happen when it matters most, in the playoffs.
Doncic also came under fire after the game, with a fan blasting him for his conditioning after the Slovenian looked a bit gassed in the second half. Luka hasn’t taken his conditioning all that seriously over the years, and while it might be too late this season, he should seriously consider some changes in the offseason.
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