The Lone Rangers have become a very high-profile team in recent seasons because of Doncic's presence, but Doncic has never had a good helper around him, resulting in their record not being very good. Last season, the Mavericks played their best results in recent years, reaching the Western Conference finals but barely fighting back in the series against the Warriors.
This season, the Lone Rangers are still like last season, relying on Doncic's big bag to move forward, and in the first half of the season, they were able to advance to the playoffs. In order to go further, they traded Irving who contradicted the Nets, and the outside world is still very looking forward to the combination of Irving and Doncic, at the beginning of Irving's arrival, Doncic and Irving have not been able to play at the same time, but the effect of the two leading the team is actually good.
But when the two came on at the same time, the team looked a little embarrassed, and although both had good statistics, the Lone Ranger's record did not advance and retreat. Competition in the West has reached a fever pitch, especially for play-off spots, and lately, the Mavericks look like the team left behind.
Facing the Heat today, the Lone Ranger still failed to find a way to win, and as soon as the game came up, the Heat was in full bloom, and the first quarter bombed 44 points. The Lone Ranger's defense still did not improve in the second quarter, and the offensive end could rely on Doncic's piecemeal play to score slowly, and the Lone Ranger trailed by 12 points at halftime.
After swapping venues, the Lone Ranger's form picked up, Doncic maintained a good personal form, and Irving, who was in a slump in the first half, slowly recovered, and the two worked together to eat away at the point difference, leaving only 6 points for the Lone Ranger's disadvantage at the end of the third quarter. Doncic and Irving continued to play in the final quarter, but Butler's offense and defense on the Heat's side and Lowry's key free throws allowed the Lone Ranger to suffer another loss 122-129.
After losing this game, the Lone Rangers have lost 6 of their last 7 games, during which it is difficult to accept 2 consecutive losses against the Hornets, and they have not been able to play the expected strong state in the face of strong teams, their current record is only 37-41, ranking 11th in the West, 1 win behind the Thunder in front of them, there is already a clear gap from the playoffs, and the gap from the 6th Warriors has reached 4 wins, almost no chance to go straight to the playoffs.
The last 7-1-6 game, and this game is Doncic and Irving's 10th defeat since they came together, and the difference between Doncic and Irving is really unpredictable, the two have only won 4 games together. Doncic and Irving played a normal performance on the Lone Ranger's side in this game, Doncic shot 17 of 25, cut 42 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, such data is already common for Doncic, but the team has never been able to win, Doncic's personal data is luxurious, it can only make him feel more powerless and unwilling.
Irving's performance today fluctuated a lot, the first half contributed, after entering the second half of the state has a significant recovery, the game down 17 shots 10, got 23 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists data, after coming to the Lone Ranger, Irving averaged 26.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, the data is qualified, and the efficiency is very high, shooting rate reached 50%, but Irving's perverse personality has begun to slowly appear in the Lone Ranger, after the honeymoon period at the beginning of the franchise, The consecutive losses have made Irving very frustrated, and coupled with the fact that it is the Ramadan period, this also has a certain impact on Irving's state.
In addition to Irving and Doncic today, in fact, the Lone Ranger also has a third player to stand up, Hardaway Jr., who has been inefficient this season, broke out today, shooting 11 of 15, 6 of 10 three-pointers, and scored 31 points, but even if there is a third-man outbreak, the Lone Ranger cannot win, indicating that the current Lone Ranger's problems are really multifaceted.
Since Irving and Doncic both need to have the ball in hand, the Lone Ranger's offensive end is basically a two-man turn, and the roles of others are basically fixed-point shooters and insiders, while the Lone Ranger doesn't run much without the ball, which leads to the team relying too much on the singles of these two cores.
In addition, Kidd's use of personnel on the offensive end is also very problematic, especially Wood, Wood's playing time has plummeted recently, and he only got 12 minutes of playing time in this game today, this season before Irving came to the Lone Ranger, Wood was the second scoring point after Doncic, but now Wood's contract extension with the Lone Ranger looks dead, and the Lone Ranger is not willing to give Wood a larger contract and more playing time.
The Lone Ranger's defense is also a huge problem that has not been solved this season, this season's Lone Ranger's defensive efficiency league 23rd, this problem has existed for a long time before the Irving trade, but subject to the team's overall play and staffing, this problem has not been solved, and the Lone Ranger in the Irving trade sent away Dinwiddie and Finney Smith, two players who can defend, resulting in the team's defensive ability to decline again, and there is now a situation where the offensive shackles of the Heat cut 76 points in the half.
In addition to the team's poor record and gloomy playoff prospects, the current Lone Ranger will also face the problem of Irving's contract extension, Irving will become a full free agent after the end of this season, after paying a small price to get Irving, failing to play a decent record, and then let Irving leave the team, the Lone Ranger may become the biggest loser in the league this season.