An incredible last quarter by Kyrie Irving, in which he scored 26 of his 36 points, was not enough for Dallas, who suffered a second consecutive loss tonight (between Monday and Tuesday) - this time a dramatic 124:121 against Minnesota.
It was the second time that the new center played alongside Luka Doncic, and both of those games ended in a loss.
"I really wanted to win," admitted Irving, who scored 11 of 12 from the field in the decisive quarter, bringing the Mavs back from an 89:63 deficit.
However, in the final attack, neither star duo could make a throw, and the comeback was incomplete.
"I'm still trying to recover," he said at the end.
"I wanted to at least manage to throw. It's my fault, I need to be smarter in these situations, but in general it's good that we even got there considering the game we had."
Doncic added: "We didn't have a free shot, we just passed to each other, but there was excellent defense. I tried to pass to Kyrie and he tried to pass to me, and in the end nobody threw."
Besides the game, the journalists in the United States also discussed the future of Irving, who could become a free agent in the summer and it is still unclear whether he will stay in Dallas.
"It puts unnecessary distractions on the team," he said.
"It's really mentally exhausting. 'What will happen in the future? What will happen in the future?'
Right now I feel only love here, everyone has received me great. No one knows what will happen in the future, I just want to be the best teammate possible, to lead and focus on what is in front of us as a team."
The Los Angeles Lakers' playoff dreams suffered another blow, with a 127:115 loss to Portland.
LeBron James was absent again, and his team was not in the picture - not when the opponent was shooting 23 three-pointers, including 17 in the first half.
Damian Lillard starred with 40 points and made opposing coach Darwin Hamm admit: "I don't know what we could have done, except steal his shoes."
His own coach Chauncey Billups praised the point guard: "We've already become spoiled that we get to see him day after day, dominant like that and scoring 30 points in a half or 60 in a game. He's that good."
After having to give up Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, New Brooklyn was defeated 124:106 against New York in the derby.
Ben Simmons was seemingly expected to become the Nets' new star, but he only got 13 minutes from Jack Vaughn.
"We have many challenges," admitted the coach.
"If you play with another tall man next to Ben, there are spacing problems. If you put another playmaker next to him, you have to solve how it looks when he is without the ball. We will try to figure out the right role for him."
In his 13 minutes, Simmons provided 2 points (1 of 2 from the field), 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers.
On the winning side, Jaylen Branson poured in 40 points and got help from his good friend from Villanova College, Josh Hart, who added a season-high 27 points to snap a nine-game losing streak in the Derby.
"I knew he was going to have a long NBA career, but I didn't think he was going to be this good," Hart said.
"He should be an All-Star, and he plays at an All-Star level."
When will Stephen Curry return to the courts?
An answer will be received only after the All-Star break.
"It's a slow process," admitted the Golden State star, who injured his left leg against Dallas.
"My goal is just to heal right now, and we'll see what happens after the All-Star."
sport
NBA
Tags
Kyrie Irving
Dallas Mavericks
Ben Simmons
Damian Lillard
Stephen Kerry
Los Angeles Lakers