It’s been pretty much all downhill for the Dallas Mavericks after they traded for star guard Kyrie Irving nearly two months ago.
The Mavericks are a complete mess at the moment and suffered their fifth loss in their last six games Wednesday night to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Mavericks, who now own a 37-40 record, are a game back of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final spot not for the playoffs, but the play-in tournament with just five games remaining in their season.
Dallas was seen as a title contender when it paired Irving with Luka Doncic, but it’s been the complete opposite with the Mavericks going through a meltdown.
Whether it’s Irving’s doing or not is up for debate, but he certainly recognizes the severe turbulence the Mavericks are going through, summing up the team’s situation rather perfectly after the game.
“It’s kind of a little bit of a cluster(expletive) right now,” Irving told reporters, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
Irving didn’t perform badly in the 116-108 road loss to the 76ers. He dropped in 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go along with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Irving did get into it with a 76ers fan courtside midway through the first quarter and seemed to want the fan ejected, but that didn’t appear to happen. This past Sunday, Irving had a fan removed from the stands during a road loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
It’s certainly an ugly situation right now for the Mavericks, and it could get even worse depending on how these final games end up playing out. And Irving’s words don’t inspire any confidence that it will turn out well.
