(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks was not having a good game on Wednesday night.
He had trouble landing some contested shots, his defensive game was insufficient, and he got fouled out in the last few minutes of the game.
All in all, it wasn’t a performance to remember.
Meanwhile, his teammate Kyrie Irving was playing quite well and was looking like the All-Star Dallas needed.
On Thursday’s “First Take,” Stephen A. Smith said the Mavericks needed more Irving and less Doncic.
In fact, he thinks that Doncic was “disrupting Kyrie’s rhythm” and had the ball far too often, when he should have been delivering it to Irving as much as possible.
“When you see [Kyrie] in his bag the way that he was, you get the ball in his hands,” Smith said.
.@stephenasmith says Luka was “disrupting Kyrie’s rhythm” in Game 3
“When you see [Kyrie] in his bag the way that he was, you get the ball in his hands.” pic.twitter.com/NP1lYdQOMI
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 13, 2024
After several middling games, Irving was playing very well on Wednesday, shooting 46.4% from the field and 66.7% from the three-point line.
He was moving with speed, smarts, and efficiency.
But because Doncic is still the biggest star in Dallas, he was often in control of the ball.
On most nights, that would have been a good thing but Smith believes that Doncic should have recognized he was having a bad game and deferred to Irving.
Smith claims that Irving could have had an even better game if he held the ball more often but Doncic was still looked to as the leader for Dallas.
For days now, fans have been calling on Irving to step up and play better.
He did just that in Game 3 but he didn’t get enough time to shine and, sadly, it may be too little, too late.
The Mavericks are now down 0-3 and no matter how well Irving plays in Game 4 and beyond, Dallas’ fate is likely sealed.
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