On Friday night, the Dallas Mavericks fell in dramatic fashion to the Phoenix Suns at home by a score of 114-113.
Dallas fell in a hole early in this one, and their slow starts continue to put them in a bad spot. The Mavs trailed by 13 points at halftime, but heroics from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving helped them fight their way back into this game.
The Mavs ended up leading by as much as six points in the fourth quarter, but they couldn't hold on to a win.
After the game Jason Kidd put the team's slow starts and poor bench play on blast, saying the "bench stinks right now," and how they have to get "someone to (expletive) participate off the bench." This was undoubtedly the most angry Kidd has ever been in a press conference as head coach of the Mavs, and his comments about the bench unit later led him to a pressing point
Mavericks' bench woes leave Doncic and Irving out to dry
"Somebody has to join the party to help Kai and Luka, and that's just not happening right now," Kidd said. "Played the whole (expletive) team tonight, and we couldn't find anybody. So we had to leave those two to carry the load, and that's unfair for those two this early in the season."
Everything that Kidd said in that statement was correct.
Kidd truly tried everything last night as he looked for someone to give his team a spark off the bench, but no one did. He even tried playing Kessler Edwards who is on a two-way deal in this game, but he was quickly subbed out after a missed shot and turnover.
Kidd played the guard trio of Spencer Dinwiddie, Quentin Grimes, and Jaden Hardy for a combined 40 minutes, and they only contributed five points. Dinwiddie played 28 minutes and scored just three points, and someone needs to step up to prevent putting Doncic and Irving in this "unfair" position.
They can't be forced to carry the load every single night, and that has been the case as of late. It doesn't help that four of Dallas' main role players are out with injuries, but even then, someone should be able to step up and provide something.
Last night, the bench as a whole combined for nine points. Nine points over 70 combined minutes is unacceptable, and if the bench continues to have these poor performances, then Doncic and Irving will continue to be thrown into these situations where they have to be relied upon for any and all offensive production.
They are the leaders of the team, and they're used to controlling the game offensively, but what they had to do against Phoenix isn't sustainable. Doncic and Irving played 42 and 41 minutes respectively, and it's not right for them to have to do everything in order to get a win. Playing your star duo a combined 83 minutes can be expected in certain situations, but we're only nine games into the season. Those around the superstars have to take the bull by the horns and do something about it.
Role players are in a tough position due to the nature of their role as they have to be ready to contribute right when checking into the game, but there are no excuses for how this bench is leaving its stars out to dry.
The Mavs' bench is 26th in the NBA in points per game with 25.1, and this is a huge change from last year as their bench averaged 35.8 points per game and ranked 11th in the NBA.
The nine games that Dallas has played is a small sample size, and even though Kidd is still trying to figure out what rotations work, these types of bench performances can't happen. Irving and Doncic's second-half masterclass performances were put to waste, and the Mavs fell to 5-4 ahead of their game on Sunday evening in Denver.
Kidd's passionate postgame press conference shows how frustrated he is with the consistent bad starts and poor bench play, and something has to change there before it's too late. It's up to the players to control their energy and effort, and someone must take this issue by the reins and show Kidd that they can be relied upon to give offensive support to Doncic and Irving.
Players returning from injury will help that, and until then, Kidd's search to help get Doncic and Irving out of this spot will continue.
