Although the Dallas Mavericks have been struggling recently, top player Luka Doncic thinks things will soon get better.

Superstar Luka Doncic remains upbeat despite the Dallas Mavericks’ two-game losing streak and six losses in their previous nine games as his team prepares for a more relaxed stretch of play with three days off.

The Mavs were playing a back-to-back without Doncic’s fellow star Kyrie Irving, Sixth Man of the Year front-runner Tim Hardaway Jr., and fourth-year guard Josh Green heading into their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. Doncic led a fierce rally, including a league-record 30-0 run to grab the lead late, but the Mavs ran out of gas and lost to the Thunder 126-120 despite trailing by 24 points in the fourth quarter.

“We played really well, but I am quite disappointed we did not win this game. Today’s third and fourth quarters saw this team play exceptionally well. Doncic, who finished with 36 points, 15 rebounds, and 18 assists to tie Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird for ninth place on the NBA’s all-time triple-double list, remarked, “We just got to play like this more times and we are going to win a lot of games.”

That was completely crazy. We played with amazing intensity, as I mentioned. It was a hard game, with people missing, but we rallied and came close to winning. As I already stated, I am really disappointed that we did not win, but we made a fantastic effort.

Doncic’s optimism is warranted because the Mavs will now face three straight opponents with losing records after taking three days off before returning to action. With Irving, Hardaway, and Green all hopefully returning to full health, Dallas should be able to add some more victories to its 11-8 record. With the Western Conference standings so close, every early victory will count come playoff time.

In this episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, we discuss the positive and negative aspects of the Mavs’ almost miraculous victory over the Thunder. We go into great detail on the historic nights for Doncic and Dereck Lively II and look ahead to what the Mavs have in store.

And how much of the blame will fall on the players and coaching staff if Dallas finishes this season as a.500 basketball team? Given that the Mavs have been a .500 team after 30 games in Jason Kidd’s first two years as head coach, it would be discouraging for it to happen for a third consecutive year after the front office went out and made several roster upgrades over the offseason.

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