Mavs Film Study: How Kyrie Irving is Already Making Luka Doncic's Job Easier

The Dallas Mavericks are already seeing how Luka Doncic's job can be made easier with Kyrie Irving on the floor alongside him.

DALLAS — For as long as Luka Doncic has been a member of the Dallas Mavericks, it's been a priority for the organization to find the right co-star to pair with him. Doing so requires finding a player worthy enough to take the ball out of Docnic's hands to play him more off the ball. 

“The ball is moving,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “When people have said that Luka and Kai need the ball, they also know how to use their teammates. And their teammates are delivering right now.”

The early results have been highly impressive in a small sample size when Doncic and Irving have shared the floor so far. In those 76 minutes, the Mavs have produced a 128.2 offensive rating, and a 113.4 defensive rating, resulting in a 14.8 net rating. While there's room to improve defensively, they're clearly forming a potent scoring threat.

Doncic, who leads the NBA in time of possession by a substantial margin, is still adjusting to playing alongside a superstar like Irving. In the beginning stage, there has already been plenty of situations where Doncic has received easier looks by playing off-ball within the flow of the offense. 

Irving is such a prolific scorer, Doncic finally has a teammate that is going to draw aggressive help rotations. Throughout his career, the defense often would stay attached to Doncic when he was playing off-ball. Some teams would even face guard him to deny a pass to him.  

"It's great because he's off the ball, and now you have defenders instead of not helping off as much, now they have to help because you have a prolific, perennial All-Star in Kai on the other side of the floor coming down the lane. So you have to have help side, and you can't just face guard him," Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.

Hardaway explained: "Now, Luka is playing off closeouts and that makes the game a lot easier for offensive players and a lot of role players. When you have Kai on one side and Luka on the other side, and they're doing that, it's going to create a problem."

There was a possession against the San Antonio Spurs that exemplified how defenses have to account for another dynamic threat on the floor in ways they haven't had to traditionally do against Doncic. Kyrie Irving flashes to the ball and turns baseline, draws help, then uses multiple shot fakes before getting into a turnaround jumper. Given Irving's scoring reputation, the threat is well established there. 

As seen in the play above, the challenges the defense faces when having to account for Doncic and Irving on the floor together is the constant threat of their short-range game. They both are elite finishers at the rim with the ability to finish through contact. However, they are savvy shot creators, using turnarounds, fadeaways, and general floater touch, deep on drives. It's hard for a defense to be in position against both threats. There will be holes in the defense as plays develop. 

“When you can finish at the rim and then also in the paint, that helps,” Kidd said. “A lot of times those that they don’t make lead to offensive rebounds or to the free-throw line. So, that’s something that both of those guys can do. Luka did that in the first quarter. I think he got to the paint 10 times. When you have those two quarterbacks getting into the paint and being able to get to the rim – we would say that Luka is a great finisher, and we would say Kai is the best finisher in the league with either hand. So, to have that ability to get to the paint or the rim is big.”

With actual opportunities to practice together after the NBA All-Star break, unlike the short stretch they had together before, there has been a greater sense of comfort with one another. Irving looks like he's been with the team for years as opposed to just a few weeks given his ability to quickly adapt to different teammates. 

“They’re starting to be comfortable with each other on the floor, not passive as you can see the way Kai ended that last possession on the right wing and he didn’t let the opponent get the last shot, got a layup,” Kidd said. “I think his plus-minus was 34 in 29 minutes – pretty good. His ability to not just score but when he gets his teammates wide-open looks like that, the game gets easier. You can see those two feeding off one another.”

One of the different layers the Mavs have with Irving is the ability to play at a faster tempo whenever they feel it's necessary to do so. Both Doncic and Irving can make the spray ahead pass in transition, but Irving can also use his explosiveness to push the ball and pick spots to attack. This makes it easy for Doncic to not have to work as hard throughout a full game. 

“There’s going to be different speeds,” Kidd said. “That’s just the way we’re built. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t play fast with the throw-aheads, and the ability to get out and run. I think when we talk about Josh and Holiday, these guys can get out and run and with Kai and LD and their ability to throw ahead, we can look to do that a little more.”

For Doncic, he is able to be a factor as a trailer when the Mavs are pushing the pace, either with Irving, or a different initiator. There have been chances for Doncic to receive simple opportunities without having to do any of the initiating by being the trailer, as he did on a wide open catch-and-shoot 3 against the Spurs. 

Doncic has only taken 3.9 percent of his field goal attempts as catch-and-shoot 3s. He's shooting 20-44 (45.5 percent) on those looks while taking, on average less than 1.0 per game. Receiving more of these looks alongside Irving will only further help the Mavericks' offense, while making the game simpler for Doncic. The options go well beyond the open catch-and-shoot look, too. 

Tim Hardaway Jr. pushed the pace similar to Irving on a play against the Spurs, which resulted in the Mavs' offense continuing the advantage with the ball finding its way back to Doncic's hands. He was able to make a simple attack off the catch with the defense in the "blender" for an and-one in the paint. 

"Before Kai, he might have had two or three [plays] where he can catch and go," Kidd said. "The other night, he might have had eight. It's just a different game for him to be able to catch-and-shoot, or catch-and-run with it. When he is able to catch and go, he uses his body to get fouled to get to the free throw line, it's a different game. Then you sprinkle in that he can pass with that. 

Kidd explained: "This is something that he's taken full advantage of with Kai, or whoever's creating the blender. His ability to catch and shoot or be able to re-drive it — he's one of the best players in the world, so again, I think he's doing a great job of the reads."

As the Mavs continue to build on their approach to half-court offense with Doncic and Irving, the game will continue to come easier with both players. The talent they each provide offers many options to get creative as they go forward. Among those options is to have one screen for the other. These sequences haven't happened yet, but will be something to monitor as they build. 

"You got to pick your poison. It's a great play for us. I think it's a dangerous play for any other team to guard," Irving said. "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. 

Irving explained: "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. 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."

As he's done in previous stints in his NBA career, Irving has made it a clear focus to be a ball mover and unselfish teammate in the early stages of the game. When the ball finds him in situations to attack within the flow, he's going to capitalize on them, whether it's to push on the break, attack a closeout, flash cut, or flow into an early ball screen or isolation with an advantage. He conserves himself to then take over in the fourth quarter, which he has certainly done as he's averaged 11.8 points per game during the final period as a Maverick.

For a team that deploys such a potent threat early in games like Doncic, who leads the NBA in first quarter scoring, there is already somewhat of a natural, fundamental cohesion in their general approach to the game. What's been clear is that teams only have so many impactful on-ball defenders and you can only pick one player to put your top stopper on. Now, the Mavs can more easily attack weak-points without having to forcefully hunt the right matchup and wind down the shot clock in the process. The flow of the game has been more natural as a result. 

"I think we tend to not hunt as much now right now with the mismatch because to LD [Doncic], everyone is, and then Kyrie's ability to read the situation at a high level," Kidd said. "So, for those two, you gotta ask those two that question because those two will say that they can score on anybody."

With Irving initiating early in games, there are quick hitting chances for him to make a play without Doncic having to exert himself. There were four examples that stood out against the Spurs. All of these plays ended with an early advantage in the shot clock with Doncic getting the chance to rest on the play. Irving saw vulnerabilities and just went for it by getting aggressive, either attacking the rim, or getting the ball back on a reset to work out of triple-threat. 

Doncic has been the most frequently blitzed and double-teamed player in the NBA this season. Irving's presence on the court makes it far more challenging for the opposition to load up on him in that way. Among the situations the Mavs have often been placed into has been 4-on-3s with Doncic being forced to get the ball out of his hands. While Irving certainly can attack in his own right, there have been chances for Doncic to step into a catch-and-shoot 3-point look, or drive off the catch to the rim after Irving makes the extra pass back. 

The Mavs' two losses with Doncic and Irving playing together ended with late-game shortcomings. Doncic took a tough step-back 3 against the Sacramento Kings, then when there was questions regarding who should have taken that last shot, there was hesitation from both superstars the next game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Regardless, both Doncic and Irving are tough shot makers that can make big plays in crucial moments. How that is leveraged better going forward is important to track. Overall, the team is in the early stages of adding to their approach with Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers being their fifth with both superstars.. 

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