Kyrie Irving lifts lid on “pressure” of blending with Luka Doncic, Mavericks
Kyrie Irving is feeling the pressure during Dallas' 1-4 run and is still working out his chemistry with Luka Doncic
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Kyrie Irving
Dallas Mavericks’ latest recruit Kyrie Irving expresses the pressure he has felt since joining the Texas team. Kyrie spoke to The Dallas Morning News and said, “It’s natural. It comes with it, and also as a human being, I just naturally want to fit in with everybody and not step on anyone’s toes.” The Mavericks have lost four out of five games in that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have shared the court.
“It’s like NBA pressure that comes with the second half of the season. We only have 19 games left, and I just want to play well, and the last two games just haven’t played with the fluidity of my game and just complementing others and just doing the little things to get us those wins,” said Kyrie on the Mavericks struggles of late. The Australia-born star is still finding his feet in Dallas as he and Luka work out their roles together. The Mavericks blew a 27-point lead with Kyrie and Luka playing together against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the Maverick’s latest game against the Pacers, Kyrie shot poorly and rimmed out the game-winning shot. Irving shot 39% from the floor without making a single three all game, a rare sighting from Irving. “I have no excuses. I just know I got to show up to the party and be more poised out there and just hit timely shots and just trust my teammates and trust what we have going on,” said the Mavs point guard on his performances. Kyrie and Luka will have to figure something out before playoff time as the West has no room for error.
Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks’ potential playoff opponents
The Dallas Mavericks have been on a slump lately and have slipped to the 7th seed in the West. After reaching the conference finals last year, Dallas would not want to have to go through a play-in tournament this time around. As it stands the Mavs would play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-ins. The Timberwolves have beaten the Mavericks twice this season and will fancy their chances in a one-and-done play-in game.
If the Mavericks do manage to capture the 7th seed they will be up against the #2 Grizzlies. Memphis has been on fire this season with Ja Morant and his crew torching the league. The Grizzlies made the conference semi-finals last year only to lose to the eventual champions in Golden State. A Luka v Ja matchup would be a delight for fans as these guards are the future of the league.
Kyrie Irving has been a solid playoff performer his whole career and will look to continue that in Dallas. However, this is Kyrie’s first year in the Western Conference and the matchups will be quite different. The East is filled with tall centers like Embiid and Giannis while the West is full of shifty guards like Ja, Stephen Curry, and Damian Lillard amongst others. Kyrie will have direct matchups to deal with and it will be interesting to see how he fares.
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