Doncic, Irving react to Mavericks' loss vs. Clippers / News - Basketnews.com

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving shared their thoughts after the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1.

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

The Dallas Mavericks opened their NBA playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers with a loss.

Player of the Game EFF 29 James Harden Points 28 Accuracy 8-17 Rebounds 2 Assists 8

Their two stars were able to carry the team—Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds and Kyrie Irving had 31 and 7—but the Mavericks had no answer for the Clippers. Dallas only scored 30 in the first half, a playoff low for the franchise.

After the loss, Doncic shared this thoughts with reporters on his performance and the team's efforts.

“I just gotta stay aggressive. That was my bad in the first half, wasn’t aggressive enough so I just gotta stay aggressive and find the open man," Doncic said.

"We just gotta watch film and come out in the second game with the same energy we came out with in the second half. In the second half that is how we should play the whole game, so we got to learn from that."

Luka Doncic Kyrie IrvingCredit Getty Images via AFP/Scanpix

Dallas head coach Jason Kidd also commented on the Mavs' play in Game 1.

"We did dig ourselves a hole. The positives is that we kept fighting in the second half. We expected the Clippers to come out physical, and we just didn’t respond that first to their physicality," Kidd said. "I like the way we played in the second half and we got to build on that.”

Dallas trailed by as many as 29 points and only shot 39% from the field as a team.

Irving, though, said that there are some positive things that they can lean on heading into Game 2, which will be played again in Los Angeles.

"This was a great first test for us, and we obviously failed," said Irving. "There are things that we can take into Game 2 and strengths we can push forward and utilize and not overthink it."

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