Mavericks and Doncic are battling 'unacceptable' issue that must be fixed now

After a loss to Oklahoma City in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals, the Dallas Mavericks have some pressure off of their shoulders.

Dallas's seven-game win streak was the longest active win streak in the league at one point, as they showed that their team chemistry is quickly growing, and they are morphing into one of the most balanced teams in the NBA. They will now get some most-needed rest following a physical game against the Thunder.

During that win streak, the Mavericks actually needed to clean up one issue in order to be more efficient. That issue got exposed badly against Oklahoma City, but it's something that needs to be addressed before things get ugly.

Mavericks must handle 'unacceptable' turnover problem now

The Mavericks' new trend has officially caught up to them.

It only took one half against a physical Oklahoma City team to see that Dallas' turnovers are not going to cut it against the best teams in the NBA.

The Mavericks are averaging 18 turnovers per game over the past five games. They actually had 25 turnovers in the win against Memphis. A key thing to remember from that game was that they were trailing the game for the most part, with the third quarter being incredibly disastrous, but they were able to fight their way back and win.

This shows how great the Mavericks can be on any given night, but they can't pull that off against teams like Oklahoma City on the road with their backs against the wall.

"It's something that we as a team have to address because it's been something that's been happening for the last couple weeks," Jason Kidd said after the loss to OKC. "We've been lucky enough to find ways a win even with the high turnovers but tonight it got us."

It seems like Kidd's fiery press conference earlier in the season did something to help fuel the team's bad starts. He might need to act in the same tone if this turnover trend continues.

Luka Doncic, who had one of the worst first halves of his career, talked about the turnovers and even went as far as to take accountability for those mistakes.

"Sloppy passes from me, just got to take care of the ball you know, can't be having six turnovers, that's unacceptable from my part," Doncic said.

This is at least what you want to see your superstar doing after a loss. There's no doubt the swarming Thunder defense was a headline in the game, but Doncic and Kidd addressed the issue as something that needs to be fixed.

They may have been able to get away with it against teams like Washington or Portland, but it's not going to cut it if they want to find true success the rest of the way.