The Dallas Mavericks might be in a period of struggle for a few games with the latest news. Since hobbling off the court against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Luka Doncic is said to be sidelined for a while. A left calf strain continues to nag him. A return timeline is said to be over a month. And aside from a concerned sighting of the Slovenian during their loss to the Cavaliers, Jason Kidd didn’t arrive with the best news after the game.

Until the day of the game, there was no reported problem with Kyrie Irving. In the absence of Doncic, he has successfully taken over the scoring keys for the Mavs. However, right before the game, the Mavericks announced his non-participation from the game due to an illness the eight-time All-Star seems to have contracted.

This is the second game in the last three that KAI has missed. Previously, he couldn’t feature against the Sacramento Kings due to right shoulder soreness. With a two-day break before their clash against the Memphis Grizzlies, the team could be hopeful for Irving to return. Still, Jason Kidd only responded with “we’ll see”. But for Doncic, that day seems to be far away.

Luka Doncic arrived at the American Airlines Center to watch his teammates take on the best team in the NBA. But thus far, Luka Magic can’t even apply pressure on his left foot. According to Brad Townsend “Luka Doncic arrived from the AAC parking garage with his leg propped on a little scooter, so, yeah, it’ll be a while before he can train, much less play”.

Coping with one injury is hard enough, but missing both of their key components missing, finding success has been impossible so far. In three games without both of them, Dallas has lost all by a double-digit margin.

The Cavaliers were too much for the severely injured Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks, even though lacking their two giants took a marginal lead in the first quarter. But the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t let them dream for long. What followed was a 20-0 run, turning the game around completely. From that moment, it was all Cleveland as they strangled the Dallas offense.

Since the first-quarter lead withered away, the Mavericks never led again against Cleveland. The Eastern juggernauts ran their offense through Evan Mobley. Having developed a three-point shot, the defensive center splashed in three tonight en route to a 34 points and 10 rebounds performance.

Furthermore, six other players score in double digits for Cleveland. Two of them came off the bench. Dallas’ top scorer came from their second unit, with Quentin Grimes adding 26 points. However, the Cavaliers’ physical defense and Mobely-Allen tandem proved too much for the Dallas Mavericks.

No Mavericks player had any success against the Cavaliers’ ragging defense. They were held to shooting just 27.3% from three. On the other hand, the connective Cavaliers offense spun a web, shooting 53% from the field. The Mavericks will hope Kyrie Irving can return as soon as possible to provide them with a frequent scoring outlet.

But without both Luka Doncic and Irving, it’s going to hard for Jason Kidd to stay on course.