In addition to previewing the team’s game versus Real Madrid, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd provided an update on Kyrie Irving’s injury and the team’s ambitions.
Spain’s Madrid : After visiting Abu Dhabi and Madrid on their 12-day overseas trip, the Dallas Mavericks have been getting ready for their final game. The championship game, which takes place at WiZink Centre on October 10 at 1:45 p.m. CST, will pit the team against Real Madrid.
The Mavs provided an update during practice on Monday regarding Kyrie Irving’s groyne injury, which kept him out of the team’s Oct. 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi.
The Mavs coach, Jason Kidd, stated of Irving, “No, he’s out for tomorrow’s game.” “The discomfort keeps getting worse. He made some progress today, but he won’t be involved tomorrow.”
The Mavericks are happy with their preseason performance thus far and are optimistic going into their game against Real Madrid following a “great” practice on Monday.
“The men performed an excellent job. Our journey to Abu Dhabi has begun. As coaches, they have fulfilled all of our requests. They’re giving it their all. In addition to having various lineups, we currently need to take care of numerous ailments. We had a fantastic practice today, and I believe the group is playing with intensity.”
.@Rachel__Nichols provides an injury update on Kyrie Irving, who will miss the rest of Game 4 due to a right ankle sprain: pic.twitter.com/P8LjkSVBfG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 13, 2021
Luka Doncic’s opportunity to play against his old team in the city he spent years calling home makes Kidd thrilled. In the days before the game, the Mavs have enjoyed getting a glimpse of Doncic’s previous environment.
“It’s exciting for Luka to come back home and be able to play where it all started,” added Kidd. “The city is stunning. He’ll definitely give it his all. Thus, we can get along with him tomorrow.”
Rather than depending too much on pick-and-rolls, the Mavs would want to stay more active by engaging in dribble handoffs to keep the offence flowing. After two weak performances from long range, the squad has confidence in their shooting, but they also want to focus on grabbing rebounds.
“I believe that we need to move the ball about a little more. We’re simply playing too many pick-and-rolls,” stated Kidd. We must be able to move, play a little bit more outside of the DHO, and avoid pick-and-roll plays.
“Then we have to rebound the ball defensively,” Kidd said. We have been discussing that topic since Day 1. Many open 3s are being produced by us. We think as we move forward, those will decline for us.”