Luka Doncic Says He's Letting Kyrie Irving Down After Mavs' Game 4 Loss

Karl Rasmussen | Apr 29, 2024

Dallas Mavericks guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Despite Kyrie Irving dropping 40 points and leading the charge as the Dallas Mavericks crawled back from a 31-point deficit in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Mavs were unable to edge out a victory, losing 116–111 at home.

Luka Doncic said after the game that he needs to do more and admitted he feels as if he's letting Irving down with his current level of play.

"I just got to help him more. I feel like I’m letting him down, so I got to be there, I got to help him more. He’s giving everything he has and he’s been amazing for us the whole series," Doncic said of Irving after the game, via Grant Afseth of MavericksGameday.com.

Doncic, who is dealing with soreness in his knee, provided 29 points of his own, but shot just 1-for-9 from three-point range. He struggled early on as the Clippers built a big lead, and was seemingly less than pleased with his performance in the Game 4 defeat despite contributing a triple-double.

The 25-year-old thanked the fans for helping rally the team after it fell down 31 points, and took responsibility for the sloppy play that resulted in things getting so out of hand in the early going.

"The fans were amazing. Kept supporting us when down 31. They kept supporting us so really gave that to the fans ... We have to start the games better, especially me," added Doncic, via Afseth.