Mavs' Streak-Breaking Loss to Pacers Reveals Team's Biggest Flaw
After putting together a season-high seven-game win streak, one that tied the highest win streak in the Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd coaching era, the team fell flat against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon in a 133-111 blowout loss.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving put up their usual superstar numbers, combining for 62 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists while shooting a combined 20-43 from the field and 7-15 from deep. However, this particular loss shed light on the Mavs' biggest flaw, which is Tim Hardaway Jr. being overexposed.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
In just 23 minutes off the bench, Hardaway managed to finish with 11 points on 4-12 shooting with four turnovers while being a -14 on the night. Having 12 shot attempts in 23 minutes from one player, especially one that isn't having a good shooting night, is unacceptable for a team that has championship aspirations.
"We just couldn't throw it in the ocean," Kidd said. "We had a couple of bad shots that took away some of the energy. We'll learn from it. We'll watch this, and we'll get better tomorrow."
Irving made a big push at the beginning of the fourth quarter, scoring nine consecutive points to get the Mavs within a 104-100 score with 8:56 remaining. From that moment on, Irving only got two more shot attempts, and Kidd knows that can't happen again going forward.
"Again, Kyrie, in the fourth, gets going. ... The ball's got to be in his hands," Kidd said. "Understanding when you're behind, you have to get your best shot. And we'll look at that and make sure, when Kai's going like that, he's got to be able to touch the ball and be able to make the decision."
Many people who don't pay close attention to the Mavs will look at that quote and think Kidd is singling out Doncic, but he's calling out his entire team – and especially Hardaway in this instance. However, Kidd is the head coach, and therefore he has the ability to limit Hardaway's minutes and shot attempts.
"Timmy has had good looks," Kidd said. "We might have to try to get him better looks, but he's had some looks that haven't gone down here of late. We have to get him going, but he's been one of the guys that scored for us."
Given Hardaway's limitations on the defensive end of the floor, he's almost always going to be a net negative if his shot isn't falling. Factor in multiple turnovers, and it makes things even worse. Hardaway has been a key piece for this Mavs roster for multiple years now, and he can still be that, but Kidd must be willing to pull the plug on nights where he simply doesn't have it in order to give Dallas its best chance of winning.
