Mavs Film Room: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Backcourt Primed to Give NBA Nightmares

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are the NBA's newest superstar backcourt on the Dallas Mavericks, and they are primed to be a nightmare for the league.

SACRAMENTO — The Dallas Mavericks pulled off a blockbuster trade ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline by acquiring Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets. With the Mavs long needing a co-star to pair with Luka Doncic, it was a move that caught the attention of many around the league. 

“NBA champion. Probably the best ball handler ever in the game,” Doncic said of Irving. “Amazing player, and he’s going to be fun to play with.

“He’s a great guy you know. Obviously, you could see in the first game how amazing of a player he is. But first, I want to thank Spence and Doe. Those are my guys. We’ll obviously miss them here. But Kyrie’s Kyrie, man.”

Irving has been integral in leading the Mavs to victories in his first two games with the team despite Doncic being sidelined with a heel contusion. He's averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in these performance and Dallas not only has won each of its games so far, but the team also didn't even trail in either of them. A combination of hot starts and staying the course down the stretch with a superstar to offer a steady hand down the stretch has been vital.

With Irving as the only star available in his only appearances as a Maverick, the team has emphasized playing faster and has leveraged more half-court actions to involve him. The Mavs have gotten off to hot starts early with Irving because they are picking apart the opposition's base defense using Zoom actions and Horns sets as opposed to just running everything through Irving in high pick-and-rolls. Dallas scored over 40 points in each of Irving's first two games. 

"That's a great observation," Irving said. "I think our play calling is pretty easy to understand, pretty easy to execute. But when you have guys that can make different reads, I think you'll see a lot more options take place. Where we can see more creativity.

Irving explained further: "Luka has the ball, I have the ball. I'm able to play off the ball and make some cuts. Just relieve the pressure of just having one primary ball handler. All the plays will have multiple options because we got guys that can make decisions with the ball or without on that backside outside of Luka. That'll be me, that'll be, I'm sure Jaden Hardy, Josh, Timmy — we'll all have opportunities to make plays off of our continuous actions."

As Doncic tends to do, Irving draws so much attention from the defense that he's able to easily leverage it when deployed into this different actions. It starts with how the big defender often engages him at the level of the screen before doubling. He's hard to contain from turning the corner and when he gets by the big defender, he's going to be in a favorable position as a passer. 

It's not just about the direct passing outcome that Irving or Doncic can create when they are attacking in actions. As Irving has shown, he can trust his teammates like Josh Green to play read and react basketball with an advantage to manipulate the backend of the defense. In the play below, Green stared down the corner to pass open JaVale McGee in the paint on a no-look pass. 

Irving's creativity playing in half-court sets has been on display for the Mavs. In the play below, watch how he sets the on-ball defender for JaVale McGee's ball screens. Domantas Sabonis is a liability guarding out in space, so the more disadvantaged the on-ball can become by Irving's screen setups and use of a re-screen, the easier it is for McGee to get behind for a lob.

Irving commanded heavy pressure from the LA Clippers' defense out of Zoom action, often attempting to deny him the initial handoff. What separates top teams is having the necessary talent to get the next possibility afforded by the talent of their players. Kawhi Leonard attempts to deny him the basketball as another potential handoff develops, so he counters for a short-range jumper after cutting into space.

Both Irving and Doncic can be leveraged as off-ball screeners knowing the defense will often stay hugged up on them. At that point, if a defenders makes a mistake in read and react basketball, there is no saving them. Take this play, for example. The Mavs initially are playing out of a Horns set, Irving then goes to set a pindown for Reggie Bullock in the corner. Bullock's man anticipated use of the screen, so Bullock cuts backdoor, and Christian Wood finds him on the pass, resulting in a wide open layup. 

Doncic will certainly enhance the Mavs' offense when deployed in the actions they choose to deploy. He's an elite short-range shot creator and finisher with the ability to get into quick post-ups and draw help to generate passing opportunities to keep the advantage alive. The issue hasn't been Doncic wanting to pound the air out of the ball. Instead, he hasn't had the necessary talent around to diversify the play style. Now, he can spend more time off-ball and get the basketball in more advantageous positions without drawing early double-teams at such a heavy rate. 

“There’s always a point where someone’s going to tiptoe in,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “When you look at Ky, he’s 30. He’s a veteran. He understands what he has to do. This isn’t two 23-year-olds trying to see who’s the alpha.

“We understand this is Luka’s team. And it will be Luka’s team. For him, it’s just a matter of playing behind the ball that he did last year. Everyone’s making a big thing about how much he dominated the ball – we didn’t have a lot of other options. That’s not a bad thing, that’s just the way the roster was set. But now we’ve improved the roster where someone else can handle the ball.”

Doncic, who leads the NBA in time of possession by a substantial margin, no longer will be burdened with having to initiate so much of the action. He's had to run a heavy dose of high pick-and-roll then hunt mismatches against teams that switch everything. An increased usage of post-ups has enabled him to circumvent some of that taxing workload, but nothing is as impactful as playing alongside a superstar like Irving. Doncic will now be able to attack off the catch at an increased rate while doing so next to a talent that draws double teams. 

“Probably a little, for sure,” Doncic said. “I never played with a guy like Kyrie. So it’s obviously going to be a work in progress. But I think it’s going to be fine.

“We both can play on the ball. For me, I think it’s going to be a learning process, for sure. Outside of my first season, I didn’t play off the ball. But with a guy like him, it’s going to be really easy.”

During earlier stages of his NBA career, Doncic hesitated to aggressively letting it fly on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer when the basketball pops around the half-court and it finds its way to him. It happens at times, but he's been more intent on taking that shot when it comes. There have been some plays that showcase it, including even when he's had to make a motion shot. 

A best-case scenario for the Mavs' offense is that Doncic takes and makes those early looks when they're available. However, he has the size and all-around skill-set to tear apart a defense by attacking off the catch. These are situations where double-teams cannot save a defense. 

Another layer for Doncic to lean into when he's spacing out is the ability to get into a quick step-back 3. When he has space to operate against a defender he would have had to otherwise had to use a screen to draw on a switch, the end result is a favorable one for him to get into his shot creation sequence without having to work as hard to get it. 

Doncic draws so much attention throughout a game and remains poised with his late-passing ability. It will naturally lead back to re-drive chances with him playing more alongside Green, in addition to adding Irving into the fold. Both stars will benefit from having these types of sequences at their disposal. Again, these are situations they cannot get doubled and attack an out of rotation unit. 

The will be able to utilize Doncic more as a post-up option with Irving and the increased trust placed in Green as an initiator of the offense. Doncic is a matchup nightmare, in general, but especially when he's using his size in the post. The double teams will come and with better read and react talent around him, he'll be able to re-drive the play after spacing out. 

Where the Mavs' offense will have massive improvement by adding Doncic back into the fold will be in when the opposition begins to deploy more aggressive approaches out of their base defense. Irving has been the central focus of these efforts, but he will be the secondary threat when Doncic is alongside him.Typically, later in second quarters, but especially in second halves, increased pressure is placed on top players. During Irving's two games, Dallas' production has declined to averages of just 49.0 points with 9.5 turnovers in second halves compared to an average of 67.0 points and 5.5 turnovers in opening halves.

Irving, who is as versatile of a scorer as they came both as an initiator and as an off-ball threat, will be able to fully unleash his abilities with Doncic baring the brunt of the pressure. Irving has a legitimate 3-level scoring ability and when he's playing off-ball, he can put pressure on the defense by attacking closeouts as a spacer, or can be involved in different actions and sets to maximize it. However, his passing talent gets overlooked by some and now he will be able to leverage off-ball gravity all the more. 

"I think I get to see less of (the double teams). That's a plus," Irving said regarding how defensive approaches will change as games develop with Doncic back. I also get to show the diversity of my skill-set, just being out there using my IQ and just be in any spots that make the game easier. 

Irving explained further: "If I can be in mid-range and work off pick-and-roll with Luka, or I can set the screen for him and peel off and get a 3, or I could alleviate some pressure from him and just start the action, initiate it, and give it back to him. As long as I can take some eyes with me, some bodies with me, I feel like I've done my job as an aggressive point guard."

Keep in mind, by forcing the defense to use a more neutral approach in terms of doubling Irving, he will be able to do what he does best: get buckets. Whether he's playing out of triple threat on the perimeter for a drive, getting into a mid-range step-back, or creating a shot from 3-point range, he can do it all. There is only one top defender on the opposing team. Who will guard Doncic and who will guard Irving?

It's common for NBA teams, including the Mavs, to get creative with who is involved in screening actions. With Doncic and Irving — two of the league's elite isolation scorers — the team can aggressively hunt mismatches by having one screen for the other, or leverage the gravity they command by freeing up their counterpart for long enough to generate an advantage.  

"You got to pick your poison. It's a great play for us," Irving said. "I think it's a dangerous play for any other team to guard. If they switch, we get what we want. If they try any other scheme like shows — any time they take their hands off of us, any time I can get Luka open just for a split second, is what I'm saying, it makes a big difference for us. You see a high-level player get open for a split second, it makes a huge difference, so if I can do that in a screen, or he can do that with me, we're both selfless. 

Irving explained further: "We know where the majority of the time the ball will be — it's going to be in Luka's hands. For us, just read and react and play natural basketball."

The idea of screening for Irving and receiving screens from him is something that Doncic is intrigued by utilizing in the Mavs' offense. Earlier this season, he had joked that his "body was built for screening." Now, he will have one of the NBA's best players to utilize it with. 

"Yeah, I think we're going to do that, too," Doncic said. "Me and him in pick-and-roll. Obviously, this basketball era, smalls pick-and-roll, too. It'll work, for sure."

The simplest form of execution will be a simple switch that results in both Doncic and Irving now having a mismatch to attack, whether using a legitimate screen or Ghost screen. These are great ways to create isolation touches where the defense cannot a double-team easily. If extra attention does come, they will be out of rotation with an elite closeout attacker ready to shred them apart. 

There are countless variations of half-court offense that can be utilized with Doncic and Irving. For example, a common staple of the Mavs' offense come playoff time is to utilize Stack pick-and-roll. Imagine the gravity that Irving command as the back-screener? The NBA's newest superstar backcourt has the potential to be truly transcendent. 

A general underlying strength they hold is that when a half-court action breaks down or the defense chooses to just switch everything, the Mavs have the option of relying on two elite isolation scorers. 

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