Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd addressed his team’s performance following a 116-110 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at the American Airlines Center. Kidd said defensive mistakes and missed opportunities were costly.
“Defensively we couldn’t get any stops and offensively we were one for nine, we looked good and also had some turnovers which allowed them to capitalize,” Kidd said.
The coach praised his players’ composure despite the late-game swing. “I thought we were under control, I thought we were calm, understood the situation, a game of runs. We got looks that just didn’t appeal to us,” he said.
Kidd noted that the team struggled to maintain the pace in the fourth quarter. “In the fourth we only had one assist and no fast break points. That’s something we need to be better at. That’s just the pace we played at,” he explained.
The energy surrounding Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas didn’t seem to upset the Mavericks. “I thought the group did a great job. Recognizing that Luka is one of the best players in the world… they competed and put themselves in a position to win a close game,” Kidd said.
On Doncic’s performance, Kidd added: “He was Luka. He fills up the stat sheet. He was really good there in the first quarter and we tried to throw different things at him. He saw it all, but it was a Luka game.”
The coach also discussed the contributions of the second block. “B-Will [Brandon Williams] led the second unit. I thought Klay was good in his minutes. PJ is trying to work off the rust, him and Gaff, and those two were good tonight,” Kidd said.
Dallas led earlier in the fourth after surging in the third quarter, but couldn’t stop the Lakers’ late comeback. LeBron James scored 11 of his 17 points in the final period, while Rui Hachimura hit a four-point play and a 3-pointer to spark an 11-2 run that put Los Angeles ahead.
Max Christie led the Mavericks with 24 points, and Naji Marshall added 21 points and 11 rebounds, but the team’s best four-game winning streak came to an end. Luka Doncic finished with 33 points and 11 assists, and the Lakers improved to 26-17.
Dallas falls to 19-26 and travels to Milwaukee on Sunday, while Los Angeles begins the second half of an eight-game road swing on Monday in Chicago.
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