The Mavericks pulled off something no team had all season on Sunday against the Lakers, as they became the first to blow a 27-point lead, as all other teams were a combined 138-0 when taking a 27-point advantage this year.
It was a dreadful second half performance from Dallas, which is still trying to figure out how everything is supposed to work in the post-Kyrie Irving trade world. At times, the Irving and Luka Doncic pairing looks sensational, but when those two aren’t firing on all cylinders, the remaining roster issues can rear their ugly head as they did Sunday when Anthony Davis dominated the small Mavs frontcourt to lead the comeback bid.
What’s been almost as fascinating as the Mavs’ play on the court recently is the commentary of head coach Jason Kidd, who has outright said they’re not going to be very good defensively and will need to outscore teams to win most nights. However, after their fourth loss in five games, this time in rather historic fashion, Kidd shifted the blame almost completely to the guys in the locker room.
Jason Kidd looked me in the eye and said “I’m not the saviour here… I’m watching, I’m not playing, I’m watching just like you guys. Us as a team we have to mature… We have to grow up if we want to win a championship.” pic.twitter.com/8ka9VhYCHp
— Nick Angstadt (@NickVanExit) February 27, 2023
It’s not often you see a coach toss the whole team under the bus like this, but it’s also not exactly the first time Kidd’s chosen to go this route of calling out his team, as that was part of his “tough love” method in Milwaukee as well. The problem with that method is, of course, that it’s the coach’s job to get players to do play the right way, compete on the defensive end, and close out games, otherwise, there’d really be no reason to pay someone what Kidd makes to just sit and watch the game, as he put it.