How should Dallas describe the 122-129 loss to the Miami Heat?
"Defense simply doesn't exist." Jason Kidd said.
Facing the Heat, who ranked sixth from the bottom in offensive efficiency, the Mavericks dropped 129 points. The Heat team gives the impression of being strong and weak on offense, and before this game, the Heat had only scored more than 129 points in three games of the season, and the Heat had not scored more than 100 points in the last three games.
In this game, Heat star Jimmy Butler had 35 points and 12 assists, Max Strus hit 6 three-pointers, Kevin Love had 18 points and 5 rebounds, and Taylor Hiro had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Of course, the scores of these players may not show the poor defense of the Lone Ranger.
So, the most incredible thing happened: the Lone Ranger let Cody Zeller, who replaced Bam Adebayo, cut 20 points and 8 rebounds, making him appear to be possessed by Anthony Davis on the court. You know, the last time Zeller cut 20+ was in November 2019.
Despite the Lone Ranger's season-best 61 percent shooting (47-of-77), the Heat won. Luka Doncic had 42 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, Kyrie Irving had 23 points and 8 assists, and Tim Hardaway Jr. also contributed 31 points and 7 assists.
"Victory is victory." Butler commented, "I don't like to talk about the fact that they shot 61 percent from the field, but I like the fact that we finally won a game. ”
This season, the Lone Rangers are 7-0 in games where they shoot more than 54 percent, while games where they shoot at least 60 percent, including the playoffs, are 30-1.
The Lone Rangers looked like a solid playoff team for most of the season, but they've struggled to win lately. In the last seven games, the Lone Ranger has only defeated the Pacers, losing all six other games. This loss to the Heat made their situation even harder. The Mavericks currently have only four regular-season games left, one win away from the Oklahoma Thunder, 10th in the West. According to the 538's model, the probability that the Lone Ranger will make the playoffs is 7%.
When the Mavericks traded Irving before the trade deadline, Doncic thought they would be the top team in the West. After all, led by two offensive maniacs, the Lone Ranger should have the ability to wreak havoc on any team's defense. However, in the 23 games since Irving arrived, they have gone 9-15, falling from top 6 in the West to 11th in the West, not to mention the playoffs, and may not even qualify for the playoffs now.
The "Eastern Europe" pair had high hopes from the Lone Rangers management but did not play a 1+1>2 effect, and the two had a 4-10 record in the same game, even creating the worst record (at least 10 games at the same time) for a teammate who was selected to the All-Star Game in the same season since the NBA and ABA merged.
But is Kyrie Irving to blame for all this problems?
After Irving arrived with the Lone Ranger, he led the team to two straight wins, and once ranked 4th in the West. Next, the Lone Ranger quickly declined. Doncic began to get frustrated as he was about to be kicked out of the playoffs. In the previous loss to the 76ers, Doncic and Irving did their part, but the Lone Ranger's bench players combined only scored 30 points, and they still couldn't block the 76ers' offense.
The same situation came back against the Heat, where the Mavericks gave the Heat 44 points in the first quarter. Throughout the game, the Lone Rangers bench scored a total of 18 points, as many as Kevin Love on the Heat bench.
The lone rangers' flaws in roster construction were evident last season, but for the time being overshadowed by the achievements of the Western Conference finals. The lack of defensive talent is a problem for the Lone Ranger throughout the season. However, Lone Ranger general manager Nick Harrison did not focus on solving this problem, but ignored public opinion in exchange for Irving. Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie's defense may not be very good in the league, but they are already in the upper reaches of the Lone Ranger team, and they are at least two notches stronger than Irving. At the beginning, the voice of opposition to the trade was like a tide of Irving, and now in retrospect, many problems that ordinary fans expected have all been exposed. After losing two people, the Lone Rangers fell 118.2 points in defensive efficiency, sixth from bottom in the league.
In his post-game press conference, Doncic was asked how his expectations for the team this season differ from the actual results after trading Irving. Doncic said: "It's completely different. I thought we would be there [in the playoffs], but it's obviously not like that now, so it's very different from what I imagined. ”
Stephen A. A. Smith once criticized the Lone Ranger on the show that "he has not won a big star in the market in the past 10 years, and the management is to blame", I don't know if this is a reason why general manager Harrison had to get Irving despite his opposition.
Of course, Doncic didn't blame the trade for Irving. What he wants to say is that after forming a superstar group, the Lone Ranger has not been able to live up to people's expectations of them.
As Doncic said, the Lone Ranger was sharp on the offensive under him and Irving. They're doing what they can. Unfortunately, the Lone Rangers team really lacks defensive people. So, the real problem should come down to the general manager.
Since Nelson Jr. stepped down and Harrison took office, Harrison has given Bullock, Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber long-term contracts, and the three of them will be paid a combined $38 million next season. Disliked Porzingis, and then traded him for Bertans and Dinwiddie. Now Dinwiddie has been traded, but Bertans has 2 years left on his contract. Harrison didn't seem to think the team had enough space-based interior without defense, and brought in Christian Wood in the offseason, but Wood is currently not used by defensive coach Kidd because of defensive deficiencies, and basically lost the court in the fourth quarter.
Looking back at this series of operations, it is really full of contradictions.
"Obviously we still have hope [in the play-offs] and I always say that your hope has to hold on until the last minute. You have to believe that you can do it, so we have to believe. Doncic added.
However, as the team that reached the Western Conference final last season, even if it barely squeezed into the play-offs, it is difficult to see it as a victory. The future Lone Rangers will have to deal with Irving's contract extensions, how to deal with junk contracts, how to build a roster, and lack of draft picks, which stack up far more tricky than not making the playoffs.