Quote board: Jason Kidd, Luka Doncic, and Kyrie Irving speak after Lakers loss

After the Dallas Mavericks fell to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon 111-108, head coach Jason Kidd as well as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving addressed the media. This was a maddening loss, one where the Mavericks were up by as many as 27 before a slow collapse occurred from the second quarter on. Here’s what the three had to say about the loss.

Jason Kidd

(On the Mavs starting to fade in the third quarter...)

“It started way before the third. We lost our rhythm in the sense of just playing our game and not worrying about the other elements. Our rhythm there in the first two-and-a-half [quarters], we were playing at a high level on both ends offensively and defensively. Then, we just got a little distracted with the whistle. We’ve just got to be better with that.”

(On the play with 15 seconds left in the game...)

“That’s a good question. You’ve got to ask Luka [Dončić] [about] that. Kai [Kyrie Irving] threw it in, and I don’t know if he was thinking he couldn’t go in the back court or whatever, but that’s a good question. You can ask Luka [Dončić]. I think he thought the ball was touched so he had to save it, but he could have gone in the back court with it.”

(On struggling this season with late-quarter plays...)

“I’m glad it’s happening during the season and not during the playoffs. When you have those two guys [Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving] out there, it’s about the details. We’ve got to do a better job with the details. The bounce pass, Kai [Irving] thought that’s the way he was going. They’re new and understanding what a bounce pass does for Luka [Dončić]. They’ve just got to work that out.”

(On the play of Jarred Vanderbilt...)

“He killed us tonight, offensively and defensively, being able to rebound the ball. He killed us on the boards. We’ve seen that before in Minnesota and also in Utah. We knew that that’s what he did, and he did it at a high level.”

(Mentality on not calling a timeout during an extended run)

Luka Doncic

(On what happened with 15 seconds left in the game when he didn’t go to the backcourt…)

“That was my bad. I totally forgot you can go backcourt. That was my mistake. That is why I tried to save it.”

(On what happened down the stretch that caused the Mavericks to lose the lead…)

“I think we just stopped doing what was working for us.”

(On if he felt like the team lost their composure as there were more and more whistle stoppages…)

“You could say that, but we still had a big lead we should have never let go. I think we just relaxed a little bit, and we have to work on that.”

(On targeting LeBron James throughout the game with pick and rolls…)

“Great players like that, you just try to make them work on both ends. There is a lot of energy spent on the offensive end, and so you try to get them to work on both ends.”

(On Jason Kidd saying Dallas has to mature as a team and not get distracted by the whistle…)

“It’s probably true.”

(On LeBron James’s performance at 38 years old…)

“It’s unbelievable. For a guy like that to do those things at 38 and in his 20th season in the NBA, it’s just unbelievable. He [LeBron James] is the scoring leader and has accomplished pretty much everything there is to accomplish in basketball. It is pretty amazing to play against a guy like that.”

Kyrie Irving

(On the team’s composure level once the lead started going away…)

“It’s a tale of two halves. I think tonight showed it. First half we were playing incredible, other than the last three minutes of the first half where I think we came in up 14. We were up 25 or 23 … I’ve been quoted saying this, ‘There is no 20-point lead that is safe in this league anymore,’ just because of pace and style of the game. But for us, I think we showed some great poise in the third quarter. But in that fourth quarter, I have to do a better job of just getting us into some initiated offensive sets and just be aggressive and not kind of force my way into the lane. I feel like after they were scoring, there were a few times I tried to rush the ball up-court and answer back with a three. I just have to let the flow of the game dictate my instincts and then be able to withstand some of the Lakers’ runs, especially when Luka’s [Dončić] not out there.”

(On the turnover in the fourth quarter where Luka Dončić tried to save the ball from going in the backcourt…)

“It happened so fast. I thought Luka needed a little but more room so I threw it towards the backcourt because I thought Jarred Vanderbilt did a great job denying him. I thought he was just going to let it bounce twice and then go grab it, but once I saw him try to save it from halfcourt I looked at him maybe like a minute later and was like, ‘You know you can go backcourt,’ and he was like, ‘Ah, man. That’s my fault.’ This is what it’s going to be like when you’re learning in-game with one another. It’s not going to look pretty all the time. Just have to enjoy the process the same way. Wins and losses come, but I know that moving forward we will definitely be more aligned, and coming out of the timeout we’ll have a better play.”

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