Luka Doncic had arguably his worst shooting performance of the season on Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs, but Dallas Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving isn't making a big deal out of it. The veteran guard isn't worried about the superstar scorer either.
For Irving, it's normal for players to have bad nights. What matters is how you adjust when such a situation occurs. And considering Doncic's accomplishments, Irving was more than satisfied.
Luka Doncic's bad night for the Dallas Mavericks
Doncic is on track to win his first career scoring title in 2023-24, but he struggled with his shooting on Tuesday and was well below his season average. Doncic completed just six of his 24 attempts from the field and finished with 18 points.
The Slovenian star couldn't even connect on his usual deep shots as he shot an abysmal 16.7 percent from deep after going 2-of-12.
San Antonio did a great job for Doncic, as the Spurs held the Mavericks star to 3-of-13 shooting in the first half. Luke couldn't recover from that.
But the good thing about Doncic is that even though he knew he couldn't develop offensively, he didn't push himself further. Instead, he made contributions to other causes. The 25-year-old also had 10 rebounds and 16 assists for a triple-double.
Additionally, Doncic had a plus-minus of +5 in the box score despite his poor shooting, evidence of his impact on the 113-107 victory.
Kyrie Irving reacts to Luka Doncic's shooting problems during Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs
Kyrie Irving, who contributed 28 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Dallas Mavericks, praised Luka Doncic for staying aggressive in the postgame press conference. He also expressed understanding about Doncic's shooting issues, noting that it's their job to help Doncic during tough times like this.
” men are hungry for perfection I look up to him every night. But he's also human, just like the rest of us. And when he doesn't hit his shots like he normally does, we have to pick him up. I like that he was still aggressive,” Irving shared via Grant Afseth of DallasBasketball.com.
Doncic expressed his gratitude to his teammates and tried to give them the recognition they deserved.
“we we have a great team. That's why we had to win today. Everyone on the court played hard and in the end we got the win, and that's what we came here for,'' Doncic said, according to Afses.
“I think Dante played great, I think Maxi played great. Kai obviously led us today, but even Dante and Maxi were huge for us until the end. did.”
With this win, the Mavericks improved to 40 wins and 29 losses on the season, good for a seventh seed and on the verge of clinching the sixth seed.
