Kyrie Irving must make simple change to help Mavericks through brutal Doncic news

The Dallas Mavericks got completely the opposite of what they were asking for on their Christmas list yesterday, as Dallas lost 105-99 to the Minnesota Timberwolves at home in a game that saw superstar Luka Doncic exit in the second quarter with a left calf strain. Despite how prolific Dallas' offense has been recently, the length and physicality of Minnesota's defense affected the Mavericks tremendously, and Dallas struggled to get their offense humming given their inability to get in the paint consistently enough without Doncic for most of this game.

Still, winners of 14 out of their last 18 contests, the Mavericks showcased their true identity in this game despite losing, as they fought from a 28-point third-quarter deficit to nearly come all the way back and win the game toward the end of the fourth quarter. Klay Thompson didn't step up offensively to the degree that Dallas needed after Doncic went out, but Thompson drained some timely 3-pointers to keep the Mavericks in this game and passed Reggie Miller to become the player with the fifth most 3-pointers made in a career in NBA history.

Given Thompson's achievement as well as the fact that Dallas almost came all the way back, Dallas' Christmas Day wasn't a complete failure by any means, but Doncic's calf strain signified that Dallas likely still hasn't faced their toughest stretch of this season by any means yet. While an MRI will establish a more conclusive timetable, early indications about Doncic's injury from those in the media aren't good, and he's dealt with injuries to this same calf various times throughout the last year or so.

Irving must get used to playing more aggressively without Doncic

Tasked with assuming most of the offensive workload left behind from Doncic will be none other than superstar Kyrie Irving, as Irving will naturally have to be more aggressive on a consistent basis without another dynamic shot-creator on the floor at all times with him. Irving usually defers to his teammates and feels out the opponent and the flow of the game in the first quarter of games, but he won't be able to do that as much without Doncic in the lineup.

Despite being in his 14th season at 32, Irving has arguably had his best season for the Mavericks through 30 games so far. Irving has only missed three games as we start to approach the midpoint of this season, and he's shooting a ridiculous 44.4 percent from outside on the year, which would be a career-high for him if the season ended today.

Irving dialed the intensity up astronomically in Dallas' Christmas Day matchup, as he scored 39 points on 14-27 shooting from the field, with 26 of those points coming after Doncic exited the game. This was the exact intentionality and aggressiveness that Dallas will need from Irving while Doncic is out, and he laid the perfect foundation for him to keep these great performances rolling. He has always been able to adapt when Doncic isn't in the lineup and take his game to the next level, and Mavs fans should expect more of the same this time around.

Irving has proven before that he can compensate for Doncic's workload offensively for multiple games at a time and Christmas Day was emblematic of that. He is going to have to get used to being more aggressive and getting himself involved early in games, and he is undoubtedly capable of that.

This is also as dynamic of an array of shot creators that Dallas has ever had on their roster, so while Irving's usage will go up during this Doncic-less stretch, there will be plenty of other shot creators in Dallas' lineup that will have even more of an opportunity to make an impact as three-level scorers such as Jaden Hardy and Quentin Grimes.

Dallas is lucky to have another superstar in Irving on their roster to mitigate this period, but that doesn't make things any easier and Dallas has some games against very challenging opponents over the next few weeks, so hopefully Irving doesn't get overextended and other ball handlers in Dallas' lineup show they can step up when it matters most once again.

Irving could thrust himself into All-NBA discussions if he performs well through this stretch without Doncic, and he should definitely be a candidate to make the All-Star team this season given how consistent he's been and how few games he's missed, but it could become costly for Dallas and Irving if they over-rely too much on the 32-year-old.