Kidd gets honest about 'tough' Klay Thompson reality Mavericks face to start 2025

As mid-January approaches, the Dallas Mavericks are facing a turning point in their season. The Mavericks currently sit with a 22-17 record and are without their superstar duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Doncic has been out of the lineup since Christmas Day with a calf strain and Irving has been out since January 3 with a back injury. When two superstars are out on a team, the team will look at their next big piece. For the Mavericks, it's Klay Thompson. When Thompson joined the Mavericks, he helped form a new big three in Dallas with Doncic and Irving.

The fact of the matter is Thompson was viewed as the next man up by many to lead the Dallas offense without its duo. With Doncic and Irving out, it will only get tougher for Thompson moving forward to lead Dallas, but it's something Thompson must face.

Playing without Doncic and Irving changes everything for Thompson

In the Mavericks most recent game on Sunday, they fell 112-101 to the Denver Nuggets, but Thompson was a stand out by leading the Mavericks with 25 points. Head coach Jason Kidd complimented Thompson's performance after the game.

"He was great, he's a pro," Kidd said. "Not always gonna have 25 a night."

Kidd later on said it would be "tough" for Thompson with Doncic and Irving out. It can be tough for Thompson because two elite scorers are out of the lineup. With two scorers out of the lineup, the opposing teams will focus their attention on the third leading scorer. In Dallas' case, it's Thompson.

"Without Luka and Kai and the other quarterbacks, it's tough." Kidd said.

Kidd was also referring to Doncic and Irving's playmaking in this statement, as they are great at creating open looks for Thompson. Without them, it's obviously going to be tougher for him to get the same quality of looks consistently, but that doesn't mean that other guys can't find him in his spots either.

Kidd continued to talk about how the Mavericks are trying to play through Dereck Lively II, P.J. Washington, and Spencer Dinwiddie. Kidd complimented Dinwiddie's ability to create for others on Sunday as he had 10 assists, but defenses will clearly be focused on stopping Thompson when both stars are out. However, Thompson finally responded on Sunday without Doncic and Irving playing and nearly helped Dallas pull off the upset. His two-man game with Lively II was excellent, and Dinwiddie is getting more comfortable with knowing when and where to feed Thompson the ball.

Thompson is a threat whenever he's on the court with his 3-point shooter, but teams will shift their focus to him more because of Doncic and Irving out. Thompson is shooting 39 percent from three with Doncic and Irving out of the lineup since January 3, but Thompson's best game without the two of them was on Sunday. Eighteen of Thompson's 25 points came from three when he shot 6-of-13 from downtown.

In two of the five games without Doncic and Irving, Thompson has shot at least 10 3-pointers. His volume is going to naturally go up without Doncic and Irving, but it can get tough because the Mavericks need more scoring without their top two scorers on the court and it could force Thompson to take shots he typically wouldn't take.

The good thing is Thompson has shown how tough he is with his success with the Golden State Warriors. Thompson showed toughness when he made two free throws in the 2019 NBA Finals after tearing his ACL, as well as not retiring after missing over 2.5 years due to injuries from 2019-2022.

Thompson is a tough hard-nose player with a championship pedigree. With success from Sunday, Thompson is eager to show more toughness in response to Kidd as he looks to prove that he doesn't always need Irving and Doncic in the lineup to make a major impact. Thomspon is embracing the adversity of being without Doncci and Irving, and this is only going to make him stronger as the season progresses.