Luka Doncic is well aware of the fact that the Dallas Mavericks have plenty of work to do in order to propel themselves to title contention. They were surely reminded of that on Tuesday in their narrow 124-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Speaking to reporters in his postgame presser, Doncic was asked for his assessment of the Mavs since they traded for Kyrie Irving at the deadline, losing the likes of Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie in the process.
The Slovenian wonderboy admitted that defense remains a big issue for them, especially since they lost their best perimeter defender in DFS in the Kyrie trade.
“We still got, I think, some things to figure out, especially on the defensive end,” Doncic shared, per Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.
The Mavs did get back Maxi Kleber against the Pacers, but after the defensive anchor missed the past 35 games due to a hamstring injury, it will definitely take some time before he can make the same impact he had prior to getting sidelined.
As Luka Doncic hinted, there's no doubt that their new roster with him and Kyrie Irving leading the backcourt is an offensive threat. Nonetheless, until they figure out how to defend as a team and make key stops, it will be hard for them to win games easily. Their collapse against the Los Angeles Lakers is another proof of that.
It remains to be seen how Luka and head coach Jason Kidd will navigate the situation, though they have to figure it out quickly since there aren't a lot of games left in the 2022-23 season.
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