The Mavericks are struggling mightily on defense these days, and there’s really only one way to pull out of it.
They need a self-help group. And the only one available is in their locker room.
Their problems against the Eastern Conference continued on Tuesday. They are two-thirds of the way through nine consecutive games against East opponents and the results have been terrible, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.
The Indiana Pacers were the latest to come into American Airlines Center like they own the place, inflicting a 137-120 loss on the Mavericks Tuesday night. The Mavericks now have lost five of the last six games – all against the East.
Their seven-game winning streak is hard to remember. Their record has dipped to 34-28 while the Pacers, who like the Mavericks are fighting to avoid the play-in tournament, improved to 35-28.
And right now, it’s all about the defense.
“We got the personnel, we got the team,” Kidd said. “This is actually a great test for us to be able to go through a hard time in March, because it only gets harder in April and May and June.
“So this is a great test: are we going to let go of the rope or are we going to continue to come to work. Everyone’s coming to work. And everyone has a positive mindset. Everyone is trying to do the right things. Right now, it’s just not falling our way. We got to keep pushing.”
But, he said, the lessons of last year when things unraveled down the stretch should deliver a strong message to everybody.
“We got to go take it,” Kidd said. “Nothing in this league will be given to you.”
And the defense has to find something that works. Kidd said the Mavericks tried switching, variations of switching, the zone and anything else in the tool box.
Nothing worked. When the Pacers had 74 points at halftime, it was a bad sign. The Mavericks actually were fortunate to only be four points behind.
“We have to be better, just looking at the defensive side,” Kidd said. “I thought 74-70, it was a shootaround. When we score the ball, we’ll play both sides of the ball. In the third quarter, we kind of went cold and they kept playing and that’s a credit to Indiana.
“We tried everything. They’re one of the best offensive teams in the league. For us, it’s about rotations and not giving up the corner three, which we have been here. Our offense is one of the best in the league. So if we can expend some of that energy on the defensive end, hopefully that gives us a better chance to get a stop.”
Luka Dončić had another massive triple-double, his fourth in a row and 70th of his career. He finished with 39 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists and Kyrie Irving had 23 points. P.J. Washington added 20.
But Luka made it clear nothing individually matters right now.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I just want to win. That’s it.”
And it boils down to defense.
“We know we got to fix it,” he said. “On the defensive end, we got to do something better. For sure. The coaches work hard every day. Defensively, we got to be better. It doesn’t feel good.”
After the game, several veterans spoke up in the locker room, including Markieff Morris, the senior member of the team.
The message?
“Positivity,” Dončić said. “Kieff spoke. He’s always speaking, helping us a lot, helping me, too. He’s the voice in the locker room. We all should listen to him.”
The Mavericks for sure will find out a lot about themselves. Their next chance to put a better defensive foot forward is Thursday at home against Miami. Then it’s two road games against Detroit and Chicago.
“Every team goes through it,” Kidd said of the slump. “Maybe a couple don’t. But we’re in the midst of it. We have the talent and the mindset. It’s just being able to do it on a consistent basis. And that’s what every other team is fighting for, to be consistent.
“If we get hot, everybody will ask how did this thing turn around. And it’s about the group staying together, coming to work every day with a positive energy. And having fun. Losing isn’t fun. Winning is. And we’re all fighting for that. And that’s what this time of year is all about.”
Splintering is not an option. The only way the Mavericks are going to come out of this is by helping each other. And they have to talk things out on the defensive end.
“We’re not too happy about losing,” said Washington. “But we still got a lot of games left. And we still got to be focused on the next game and just be better.
“It’s going to be impossible to win games if they’re scoring over 30 points in every quarter, no matter who the team is. We could score 120 points in every game and still lose. We got to make that a point of emphasis. We have to watch a lot of film and understand where we’re messing up.”
During this six-game stretch, the Mavericks have not kept any team under 120 points and three of them have scored 133 or more.
The Mavericks hit a nadir with 7:58 left in the third quarter. They were already behind by a dozen points and Josh Green got called for an offensive foul, which was subsequently upgraded to a flagrant-1.
After the Pacers converted three points on their possession, it was 89-74. Moments later it was 93-76 and Jason Kidd had seen enough, calling a timeout that left the Mavericks with just two the rest of the way.
But nothing the Mavericks were trying worked. They were staring at a 106-88 deficit going into the fourth. They never put a serious scare into the Pacers.
That’s what happens when you’re in a defensive pillow fight.
X: @ESefko
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