Luka Doncic reacts after Mavericks suffer first loss of the season / News - Basketnews.com

Luka Doncic tried to pin down the reasons why the Dallas Mavericks didn't manage to hold on to their 22-point lead and finish the job against the Phoenix Suns in their NBA premiere.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports - Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports - Scanpix

Luka Doncichas been the undeniable leader of theDallas Mavericksteam throughout recent years, helping the team make it to the NBA Playoffs. However, only last year the team made it past the First Round.

Player of the Game EFF 27 Devin Booker Points 28 Accuracy 10-20 Rebounds 4 Assists 9

Judging by the way the Mavs' first game of the season went, the scenario is likely to repeat itself this year also. Dallas blew a 22-point lead on the home court of their biggest rivals, the Phoenix Suns, to open their 2022-23 season.

While the Mavericks got off to a great start and picked up a massive lead in the game, the Suns had an incredible second half to bring themselves back into the game.

Even when new Mavericks' addition Christian Wodd went on a 16-point outburst that nobody interrupted, the Suns held steady and took the lead in the 4th quarter after a sensational performance from Damion Lee in the final minutes including the game-winner with 9.7 seconds on the clock.

The second-half slide wasted a strong year 5 debut from Doncic, who finished with 35 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 37 minutes.

"We relaxed a little bit," the Slovenian star said after the game.

"We weren't thinking the game's done, but we just relaxed and thought it's a lot of points, we’re going to get there, we're going to win. Like I said, we just can't relax. It’s happened a lot of times. We can't be blowing leads. This is a thing we have to work on, and we will for sure," the 23-year-old stressed.

Doncic took the final possession himself, hustling to his left side to unleash a long 3-pointer before the final buzzer, but coach Jason Kidd wasn't satisfied with the Mavericks’ execution and spacing to allow his superstar to a chance to get to the rim.

"It's no different than how we played in the regular season last year," Kidd said of three losses to the Suns, "in the sense that we played for three and a half quarters and then run out of steam."

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