By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Six losses in eight games dropped the Dallas Mavericks to 24-22. The active three-game losing streak highlights the problem of allowing too many points to the opponents.
“I wish I knew. If I knew, we probably wouldn’t be struggling,” mentioned Luka Doncic in the postgame press conference following the Atlanta Hawks putting up 130 points to defeat the Mavs in the American Airlines Center Wednesday.
Over the last three showings in the 2022-23 NBA Regular Season, the team coached by Jason Kidd has conceded 135.3 points per game.
“I think our offense is fine. We scored 122. That’s fine. But they scored 130,” noted the Slovenian star after glimpsing the boxscore describing the most recent shortcoming, “We are good in offense. We just have to make sure we put the same effort in defense.”
Doncic, 23, registered 30 points with 9/19 field goals in the loss to the Hawks. He additionally tallied eight assists and four rebounds to go with seven turnovers in 39 minutes.
Meanwhile, team owner Mark Cuban refuted ESPN’s report on Doncic requesting improvement to the roster. “Tim MacMahon got it dead wrong,” he commented, “Luka has never suggested, asked, demanded, or discussed changes to the roster.”
Asked about the report, Doncic himself also denied such a demand. “Obviously, the people who are next to me, that I talk to, they know that’s not true. I didn’t say anything about that,” he clarified.
“I talk to Nico [Harrison] and [Michael] Finely more than I used to. But that’s the way I talk to them,” he added on discussions with the GM and assistant GM, “We have great communication and that just stays between us.”
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