The Dallas Mavericks are in the midst of their toughest stretch of the season as they lost 110-105 to the Charlotte Hornets in what could be defined as the team's lowest point of the year on Monday afternoon. A combination of fourth-quarter miscues and injuries have plagued the last month of Mavericks basketball resulting in their 23-20 record.
Despite getting Kyrie Irving back from a scary back injury last week, the team is still battling the loss of superstar Luka Doncic as he will remain sidelined for the next few weeks. Since Doncic's untimely injury on Christmas Day, the Mavericks have gone 5-8 in the games that he has missed.
With the trade deadline looming, Dallas could use this opportunity to retool around its two superstars and give the Mavericks a great chance at reclaiming its top-two spot in the Western Conference that the eye test has pointed to when they're fully healthy.
While a trade may sound necessary in some fans' eyes, the Mavericks have undoubtedly dropped some games due to poor refereeing. Last week against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Mavericks lost due to a clear goaltending call that was missed, but this was just one of many examples of calls not going in the Mavericks' favor.
Gafford calls out NBA to get Irving more respect from referees
It's easy for fans to blame referees when their team loses, but it's hard not to focus on the Mavericks case after losing heartbreakingly to a blown call against the Pelicans. With this in mind, Daniel Gafford and multiple other Mavs players have reflected their frustrations to the media, which has stirred up NBA fans on social media.
With referees being such a hot topic and the Mavericks' recent stretch of bad luck when it comes to games being decided by last-second calls, Gafford took to the media to voice his frustrations after Kyrie Irving has been getting a concerning amount of no-calls at the rim.
"I wish they would respect him and give him a couple more calls under the basket," Gafford said. "He's gon end up getting hurt because of how many guys put him on the floor."
Daniel Gafford feels that Kyrie Irving isn’t getting enough respect from the refs 🤔
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 20, 2025
“I wish they would respect him and give him a couple more calls under the basket. He’s a great finisher around the rim but he’s gon end up getting hurt because of how many guys put him on the… pic.twitter.com/nNcaUf3nrl
While Irving's case is easy to point out, Gafford has a valid point and referees should be paying closer attention to Irving as he's contorting his body at the rim against bigger defenders. Irving is notorious for making difficult shots look easy due to his crafty finishes but this doesn't come easily as he is often hit in mid-air or smacked across the arms on these drive attempts.
This season, Irving is attempting just under four free throw attempts per game which makes zero sense considering the amount of drives he has in a given night. Irving is amazing at dodging defenders and making them look silly but this doesn't mean he shouldn't get a fair amount of foul calls when he is driving in the paint.
With the Mavericks struggling to get easy offense going with Doncic injured, any opportunity that Dallas can get on the foul line should be looked at as a bonus. Irving is one of the best free throw shooters in the league so Jason Kidd should make it a bigger priority to get his All-Star guard to the line for easy points.