You only have to see Pascal Siakam’s range of shots to realize the work carried out by the Raptors player. Against the Mavs, the Cameroonian scored 31 points (15/25), with only one free throw scored and not the slightest 3-point basket (0/5). This shows internal efficiency… as well as the low level of deterrence on the other side.
“ Toronto must be congratulated. They were aggressive. They penetrated, they dominated at the circle level, we have to do better “, coward Jason Kidd at the end of the meeting. According to Kyrie Irving, his coach found “ softs » the Texans in the racket.
A revelation among the rookies
And the absence of Derek Lively IIill that evening, played a big role in the 72 points scored by the Canadians in the paint, where Luka Doncic and his team scored 40. The rookie is the only player over seven feet (2m16) in the effective.
“ We missed him a lot. There was no one in the racket tonight, that shows how important he is to us. But the mindset is that the next guy has to take over. We didn’t do a good job on the periphery or protecting the racket and the rim », Judge Jason Kidd, targeting Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber and Richaun Holmes, the internal forces present who did not weigh enormously.
Starting from the second game of the season, the 12th choice of the last Draft already seems to have established himself as the interior control tower of Dallas. The team’s best blocker with an average counterattack, Derek Lively II has established himself as an important deterrent force.
“We depend on Lively”
“ We didn’t need this match to show that we depend on Lively. He knows how important he is in the heart of the racket, how he covers a lot of our mistakes and gives us second chance opportunities “, lists Kyrie Irving without wanting the Mavs to look for an excuse with his absence, which forced them to play more in “small ball”.
“ Guys play different roles, different positions. We can’t make excuses, that’s what was highlighted this evening. We have to be better when we are on the pitch. It’s a question of will and we have to be better mentally in this area », Continues the leader whose pivot remains uncertain for this evening’s match against the Clippers.
Kyrie Irving hopes in the meantime that he and his teammates will take matters into their own hands, while enjoying “ the maturity to be able to be in that locker room and be honest about what we did. We were soft inside, in the racket. When your coach treats you like this, you have to take it personally and take it as a challenge. Once we watch the videos, it will make more sense. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Luka Doncic | 8 | 37.3 | 48.3 | 38.8 | 77.3 | 0.8 | 8.5 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 31.5 |
| Kyrie Irving | 6 | 35.3 | 43.1 | 27.8 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 20.3 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 8 | 28.8 | 43.8 | 40.5 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 18.0 |
| Grant Williams | 8 | 31.3 | 52.9 | 52.9 | 64.7 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 14.0 |
| Derek Lively II | 7 | 23.9 | 77.8 | 0.0 | 53.8 | 2.9 | 4.9 | 7.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 9.0 |
| Derrick Jones | 8 | 21.9 | 52.9 | 38.7 | 62.5 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 8.9 |
| Josh Green | 8 | 25.8 | 44.0 | 40.7 | 50.0 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 7.8 |
| Jaden Hardy | 6 | 12.6 | 37.1 | 35.0 | 81.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 7.7 |
| Dwight Powell | 7 | 17.2 | 80.0 | 100.0 | 73.1 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 6.3 |
| Maxi Kleber | 5 | 18.1 | 25.0 | 33.3 | 60.0 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 3.4 |
| Dante Exum | 7 | 5.7 | 46.7 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.4 |
| Richaun Holmes | 1 | 7.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Seth Curry | 5 | 9.0 | 33.3 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.8 |
| Olivier-maxence Prosper | 1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
