Another triple-double for Doncic, another loss for Mavericks

DALLAS — A 137-120 home loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night continued a worrying trend for the Dallas Mavericks: Another monstrous triple-double from Luka Doncic didn't matter because of terrible defense.

Doncic had 39 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in the loss, but the Mavericks were outscored by 18 points in their All-Star's 43 minutes. He joined Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to post 35-point triple-doubles in three consecutive games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, but the Mavericks have a record 0-3 in this sequence.

The Mavericks are 6-6 during Doncic's league-leading 12 30-point triple-doubles this season.

Dallas has lost five of its last six games despite Doncic averaging 37.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 11.3 assists during that stretch, slipping to eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 34-28, only half a game above the Los Angeles Lakers. .

“It doesn’t matter,” Doncic said of his recent historic production. I just want to win, man. That's all.”

For the Mavericks to win, they'll have to figure out how to fix a defense that ranks last in efficiency since the All-Star break. Dallas has allowed 126.0 points per 100 possessions over those seven games. That's 3.5 points worse than the Washington Wizards, who have the second-worst defense since the break and are mired in a 15-game losing streak.

Doncic had no immediate answers on how the Mavs can fix their glaring problem.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer with 34.6 points per game. “We know we have to fix it.”

Dallas coach Jason Kidd said the Mavericks “tried everything” from a schematic standpoint against the Pacers, whose nine players scored in double figures with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton contributing 19 points and 11 assists.

Kidd indicated he would consider changing the starting lineup and perhaps tightening the Mavs' 10-man rotation before Thursday's home game against the Miami Heat.

“We have the personnel. We have the team,” said Kidd, whose club had its season-best seven-game winning streak before its current 1-5 streak. “It's actually a great test for us to be able to go through a tough time in March because it only gets tougher in April, May and June. So it's a great test to test in the sense that we're going to let go or we're going to continue to come to work. Everyone comes to work. Everyone has a positive mindset, energy.

“Everyone is trying to do the right thing right now.”

Doncic is very proud of his defensive improvement this season, with career highs in steals (1.4 per game) and blocks (0.6) and a respectable mark in many individual defensive metrics.

However, Doncic struggled defensively during his three-game 35-point triple-double streak. Dallas allowed 133.5 points per 100 possessions with Doncic on the floor during the three-game losing streak and was outscored by 29 points in his 120 minutes.

Kidd said the Mavericks need to be able to cover Doncic defensively because they rely on him so much to create offense.

“Are we asking for too much? I don't know if we're asking for too much,” Kidd said. “That's what he does. He's one of the best offensive players on the planet, and so that's what he does and so we have to help him on that side and we have to help him as well. helping on the defensive end. It's no surprise: he's been doing that most of his career.

“He's a walking triple-double. He does everything to help the team win. We all need to step up and help him.”