Overreliance on Luka: The numbers that reflect Dallas Mavericks' dependance on Luka Doncic

When this current season started, we witnessed a very good Dallas Mavericks team starting to click. Good movements in the off-season such as bringing Grant Williams and re-signing Kyrie Irving were the catalizers of that first part of the 2023/24 season. Unfortunately, things aren't so fluent now, and the Mavericks' offense relys too much on Luka, especially if they can't count on a healthy Kyrie.

As of today, the Mavs find themselves in 8th place in the Western Conference with a 26-23 record, virtually the same situation they were in at this point last season. With no signs of evolution, and with Dallas head coach Jason Kidd increasingly singled out as the main reason.

The Mavs' bad situation and huge dependence on Doncic has been a constant. Since the talented Slovenian point guard reached NBA All-Star status, this situation have been reflected in a brutal statistic shared by the @MavsMuse account on X -formerly known as Twitter-.

In the last five weeks, Dallas Mavericks has lost every game in which Luka Doncic has scored less than 45 points. It has happened seven times, and on none of those occasions has the Texas franchise come away with a victory.

The stat is overwhelming. It demonstrates a huge dependence on a team that is not capable of competing at the minimum level required without its main star having to put up MVP numbers every night. It is true that Kyrie Irving has been out due to injury a few games, but even with his presence this has continued to happen.