Lebron’s Lakers expose immaturity among the Mavs

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 111-108 in the biggest comeback of the NBA season, after blowing a 27-point lead. ESPN Stats & Information revealed that NBA teams were 138-0 after leading by that much this season before the Mavs’ meltdown. Coach Jason Kidd criticized the team’s maturity after the loss, saying, “As a team, we’ve got to mature. We’ve got to grow up — if we want to win a championship. There’s no young team that’s ever won a championship, mentally or physically.”

Kidd’s statement referred to the fact that the Mavericks’ starting lineup featured four players who are 30 or older, except for 23-year-old Luka Doncic. While Kidd did not specifically call out Doncic, he emphasized that the Mavericks were affected by disagreements with officials, which could be seen in Doncic’s consistent arguing of calls and non-calls throughout the game. Doncic finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, and five assists but struggled after dominating the first quarter with 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists. In the last three quarters, he had as many turnovers as field goals and was 5-of-14 from the floor.

“We lost our rhythm in the sense of just playing the game and not worrying about the other elements,” Kidd said. “We were playing at a high level on both ends, offensively and defensively, and then we just got a little distracted with the whistle. We’ve just got to be better with that.”

Doncic admitted that his disagreements with officials may have become a distraction but did not believe that it was the primary reason for the loss. He made a crucial mistake on the game’s most critical possession, committing a turnover on an inbounds play with 18.1 seconds remaining and the Mavericks trailing by three points. Doncic tried to save the ball from going over the halfcourt line instead of going into the backcourt to catch Kyrie Irving’s pass intentionally thrown away from Lakers defend Jarred Vanderbilt.

“It’s my bad,” Doncic said. “I totally forgot you can go backcourt. That was my mistake.”