Luka Doncic unarguably had his worst shooting performance of the season on Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs, but his Dallas Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving is not making a big deal out of it. Nor is the veteran guard worried about the superstar scorer.
For Irving, it’s normal for players to have bad nights. What’s important is how one adjusts when such situation happens. And considering what Doncic did, Irving was more than satisfied.
Luka Doncic’s Bad Night for the Dallas Mavericks
Doncic is well on his way to his first scoring title this 2023-24 season, though on Tuesday, he fell way short of his season average as he struggled with his shot. Doncic made just six of his 24 attempts from the field, finishing with 18 points.
The Slovenian star couldn’t even connect the usual deep shots he make, as he recorded an abysmal 16.7 percent shooting from deep after going 2-of-12.
San Antonio did a great job making life hard for Doncic, as the Spurs limited the Mavericks star to 3-of-13 shooting in the first half. Luka was just unable to bounce back from that.
The good thing about Doncic, however, is he didn’t force it further when he knew he couldn’t get it going offensively. Instead, he made sure to contribute on other ends. The 25-year-old also tallied 10 rebounds and 16 assists to complete a triple-double.
Furthermore, despite his shooting woes, Doncic was still a +5 on the plus-minus box score, a testament to his massive impact in the 113-107 victory.
Kyrie Irving Reacts To Luka Doncic’s Shooting Struggles in Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs
In his postgame presser, Kyrie Irving–who led the Dallas Mavericks in scoring with 28 points on top of seven rebounds and three assists–praised Luka Doncic for staying aggressive. He also expressed understanding on Doncic’s shooting issues, noting that it’s their job to help him in such tough times.
“The guy’s hungry to be perfect every single night and I admire that about him. But he’s human, just like the rest of us. And when he’s not able to hit shots that he normally makes, we gotta pick him up. I like that he was still aggressive,” Irving shared, via Grant Afseth of DallasBasketball.com.
Doncic, for his part, was appreciative of his teammates and made sure to give them the credit they are due.
“We have a great team. That’s why we got to win today. Everybody stepping on the court is playing hard, and in the end, we got a win, which we came here for,” Doncic shared, per Afseth.
“I think Dante played amazing, and Maxi too. Obviously Kai, you know, Kai carried us today, but even Dante and Maxi, down the stretch — they were big for us.”
With the win, the Mavericks improved to 40-29 on the season, good for the seventh seed and well on the verge of claiming the sixth seed.
For More Great Basketball Content
Follow me on Twitter at @BeatKit22 and follow us @HardwoodHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in college and professional sports, click here!