Luka Doncic points finger at 'main reason' for Mavericks' horrendous losing streak

After last night's embarrassing loss to the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks have officially lost four games in a row and have dropped to 5-7 on the season.

Dallas' inability to win close games continues to hurt them, and Luka Doncic's defensive struggles and slow start from downtown were both evident in the loss to Utah. Doncic has struggled to play solid defense all season long, and despite his offensive dominance at times, he isn't playing at the MVP level that we know he can.

Doncic took the blame for the "misunderstanding" that led to the John Collins dunk and sealed the win for the Jazz, but he also indicated one weak point for Dallas that he thinks is holding them back.

Doncic blames four-game losing streak on Dallas' awful rebounding

Dallas has had their fair share of problems over the past few games, but Doncic thinks their losing streak comes down to their rebounding struggles.

"We can’t get a rebound, so I think that’s mostly the main reason why we’re losing," Doncic said.

While Dallas' struggles of getting off to strong starts and poor clutch performances have been well documented, their rebounding struggles have not. And Doncic might just be right.

The Mavs are 19th in the NBA in rebounds per game at just 42.7, and they are 20th in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game with 32.1. They have struggled to keep opponents off the offensive glass, and this problem was most prevalent against the Phoenix Suns. Jusuf Nurkic dominated the Mavs on the offensive glass towards the end of the game, and Dallas has to put a bigger emphasis on defensive rebounding.

They can't keep giving up so many second-chance opportunities, and Dallas' bigs have to do a better job at boxing out and not ball-watching. Daniel Gafford's rebounds per game have dropped from 7.6 last year to 6.0 this year, and Doncic's have dropped from 9.2 to 8.0. The Mavs have to rebound better as a team, and Doncic knows it.

Having P.J. Washington back should help this, but still, the Mavs can't afford to continue to get out-hustled and out-muscled on the defensive glass. Washington is already listed as doubtful for tomorrow's game against the San Antonio Spurs with a knee sprain, and considering he is the second-best defensive rebounder on the team, Dallas is going to miss him.

He is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game, and that is second on the team only behind Doncic. Dallas' center duo of Gafford and Dereck Lively II rank fifth and third on the team respectively, and every player on the team needs to buckle down and put an emphasis on not giving teams second-chance points.

Giving up offensive rebounds can be back-breaking, especially late in games, and the Mavs' defensive struggles combined with the fact that they can't keep opposing bigs off the glass is a problem. Dallas was out-rebounded 40-30 against the Jazz, and they gave up 16 offensive rebounds even with Walker Kessler being out.

Dallas is giving up the third-most opponent offensive rebounds per game in the NBA with 12.92, and they only trail the Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder. Considering that the Wizards are 2-8 and both of the Thunder's star centers are out, this is not a group the Mavs want to be in.

The Mavericks have the chance to get back on track on the glass tomorrow against the Spurs, and it'll take everyone.