Luka Doncic was unable to hide his frustration Friday after the Dallas Mavericks lost in ugly fashion to the lowly Charlotte Hornets.
The Mavericks lost 117-109 to a Hornets team that was playing the second game of a back-to-back while missing three starters. Charlotte came into the game as a 16-point underdog, but led by as much as 21 points, prompting loud boos from the Dallas crowd.
After the game, Doncic acknowledged his frustration and essentially said he was not having fun at the moment.
“I think you can see it with me on the court,” Doncic said, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Sometimes I don’t feel it’s me. I’m just being out there. I used to have really fun, smiling on court, but it’s just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball.”
Doncic said he was also dealing with issues in his private life, but did not go into detail.
The Mavericks were supposed to take off after acquiring Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline, but that has not happened. Both Irving and Doncic have struggled with injuries, and the Mavericks are only 3-7 when both are in the lineup together.
The Mavericks’ frustrations have been evident for a while, and Doncic is coming off a pretty huge fine for one recent on-court action. Ultimately, they are now fighting just to make the playoffs, as Friday’s loss dropped them to 36-38. That would actually put them out of even the play-in tournament, a scenario that seemed far-fetched not long ago.
