(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
The Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving for one reason and one reason only: He’s a bucket-getter.
Irving is one of the best offensive players this game has ever seen, and his presence there was expected to take plenty of pressure off Luka Doncic’s shoulders.
The early results of the experiment were a blatant failure, but they’ve developed a strong chemistry in their first full campaign together.
However, for whatever reason, the former No. 1 pick is going away from what worked for him and his team in this series vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He scored just nine points in their loss in Game 4.
That’s why former NBA star Tim Hardaway star believes he has to be more assertive.
Talking on The Carton Show, he called him out for deferring to Luka too much.
“Kyrie is deferring to Luka too much.”
— @HardawaySr on the Mavericks Game 4 loss to the Thunder pic.twitter.com/kjguszpGgL
— The Carton Show (@TheCartonShow) May 14, 2024
This is the second time in this series that Kyrie has scored nine points, and he hasn’t scored more than 22 yet.
That’s on the heels of having 40 and 30-point performances vs. the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round and well below his season average of 25.6 points per game.
Kyrie has been more of a facilitator in this series.
Nonetheless, he’s not been aggressive at all, taking eight and eleven shots in his two nine-game performances.
We know what Kyrie is capable of, and with Doncic struggling so badly with injuries, he needs to take matters into his own hands.
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