Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Not Enough as Dallas Mavs Fall to Physical Toronto Raptors

Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks were unable to overcome the absence of rookie starting center Dereck Lively II in a tough home loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Although the Dallas Mavericks came into Wednesday night's game against the Toronto Raptors winners in six of their first seven contests of the season, all of those wins came in clutch situations, and the last two were 15-point comebacks. Playing from behind finally caught up with the Mavs tonight, as they ended up losing 127-116 at American Airlines Center.

“I mean, it’s the third game in four days, but you know it’s the NBA. Everybody gets those kinds of schedules. It shouldn’t be an excuse,” Luka Doncic said.

Doncic and Kyrie Irving led the way for the Mavs, scoring 31 and 22 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough to make up for Dallas' porous defense with rookie big man Dereck Lively II out with an illness. Toronto had the sixth-worst offense heading into this matchup, but it certainly didn't look like it at AAC. Doncic finished the night shooting just 11-26 overall and 2-10 from deep while also adding seven rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Irving shot 8-19 and dished out five assists.

Raptors star forward Pascal Siakam, who has been the subject of several trade rumors stretching back to last year, had struggled so far this season before playing against the Mavs. He gave Dallas fits from the opening tip throughout the end of the game and ended up with a season-high 31 points on 15-25 shooting.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic goes in for a layup against physical Toronto Raptors defense / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The biggest takeaway from this game is that the Mavs aren't going to be able to afford Lively missing many games this season. He missed the first game of his young career on Wednesday, and the Mavs got beat on the boards 50-38 and in the paint 72-40 as a result. Hopefully Lively will be feeling better by Friday, because a center rotation of Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber and Richaun Holmes just isn't going to get it done for the Mavs ... especially against teams with elite length like the Raptors.

"We missed [Lively] a lot," said Mavs head coach Jason Kidd. "There was no one in the paint. [That] goes to show how important he is to the team."

The Mavs didn't do themselves any favors from the charity stripe either, as they went 19-31 on free throws. Losing by 11 points will hurt even worse when Dallas looks back and realizes it left 12 freebies on the table.

Fourth-year guard Josh Green, who signed a three-year, $41 million contract extension before the season began, finished with just three points on 1-3 shooting, two assists and two turnovers. He was a team-worst -21 in just 18 minutes off the bench. The Mavs aren't expecting Green to develop into a star player, but they certainly expect him to be a difference-maker off the bench at the very least.

Next up, the Mavs take on the new-look Los Angeles Clippers at AAC on Friday in what will be their second In-Season Tournament game. The Clippers recently traded for star shooting guard James Harden to form a Big 3 with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, so Dallas' defense will have its hands full. It will be the Mavs' final home game before going on a four-game road trip, starting in New Orleans against the Pelicans on Sunday.

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