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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Wilton Jackson

Luka Doncic Shares Frustration With Mavs’ Struggles: ‘I Used to Have Fun’

Luka Dončić has not been pleased with the Mavericks most recent play on the court.

Dallas (36–38) has lost seven of its last 10 games that includes a three-game losing streak that culminated in a 117–109 loss to a shorthanded Hornets’ squad—one of the bottom-feeder teams in the Eastern Conference—on Friday. Dallas allowed seven Charlotte players to finish in double figures as the Hornets’ offense utilized superb ball movement in the win.

Despite notching a double-double performance of 34 points and 10 rebounds in Friday’s loss, Dončić said the franchise’s current swing of losses has been disheartening.

“Yeah, it’s really frustrating,” Dončić said in the postgame news conference. “I think you can see it with me on the court. Sometimes I don’t feel it’s me. I’m just being out there. I used to have fun, smiling on the court, but it’s just been frustrating…”

As the regular season comes to an end, Dončić, who is averaging 32.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game this season, and the Mavericks must right the ship soon if they hope to avoid playing in this year’s play-in tournament. 

Currently, the Mavericks are No. 11 in the Western Conference despite having the same record at the 10th-seeded Thunder. However, Dallas sits only 2.5 games behind the Warriors for the sixth spot in the conference with eight games remaining in the season.

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