With the postseason just a few short weeks away, the Dallas Mavericks need to be putting all of the pieces together. Unfortunately, they’ve been hit with the injury bug, which has seriously prevented them from maintaining any sort of consistency and/or gaining any sort of rhythm together.
On Monday night, they dropped a rough game against the Memphis Grizzlies in which they were up by 16 points at the end of the third quarter. Jaden Hardy played very well to start the fourth quarter but was not a part of the closing group. Head coach Jason Kidd explained that decision post-game, noting that the coaching staff believed Hardy was injured.
“Looking at Hardy, he stepped on someone’s foot when he was backtracking,” Kidd said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “So, [me] and the rest of the coaching staff looked at going with some experience once we thought he was hurt. And so, looking at that group that finished, pretty much finished in LA [as well]. And so, just understanding that group has been successful. They’ve gotten great looks. Tonight, they just didn’t go down for us. But Hardy was good to start that fourth. He was, I think, the only one who did score. But when he was backtracking, he stepped on someone’s ankle. So not just to leave them on the offensive end, but he has to participate on the defensive end, too. So, we felt we just needed someone who was healthy at that time.”
Hardy was the only member of the Mavericks to make a field goal in the final frame, as Dallas was held to just three made shots. The rookie point guard ended the night with 20 points, three rebounds, and four assists on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Kyrie Irving Sounds Off on Injury via Dillon Brooks
In addition, during the game, Kyrie Irving also suffered an injury. Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks stepped on his foot, and it injured the Mavericks star. After the game, Irving discussed the incident.
“At the end of the day, we got to take care of the controllable details out there, which is rebounding and staying in front of our men,” Irving said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “For the majority night, we did that. But for me, I have to be better if I’m going to be out there. Even maintaining the pace that I was after getting somewhat injured by Dillon. Just got to maintain the poise.”
He also said that he doesn’t blame Brooks for the incident.
“Just a re-aggravation of my foot. Unfortunate play,” Irving said. “I would have felt different up here if I felt Dillon did it on purpose, but I didn’t. So, just one of those plays where he’s trailing me, and I think his feet got caught up with mine, and I twisted my ankle. So, just bad timing, but the game has to keep going on.”
Maxi Kleber Shows Love to Kyrie Irving
In the Mavericks’ prior game on Saturday night, Maxi Kleber nailed a game-winning shot to earn a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers after Irving hit him with a great pass. After that game, Kleber showed love to Irving.
“First of all, he’s very experienced. Very calm,” Kleber said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “He knows how to talk to people [and] where to set up people. [He] sees the strengths in players and knows what he expects them to do. So, that helps a lot. And then, obviously, like I said, he’s a very, very great teammate. He always has positive spirits, uplifting words, and all that. So, I’m very appreciative to be able to play with him. I think I learn a lot from just his body language. The way he interacts with his teammates. Just a great character guy.”