5 things fans learned from Mavericks 1st game with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving

Thing fans learned from Dallas Mavericks 1st game with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving: 2. Faster pace

Luka loves to play slow and dominate in the half-court. Dallas was playing at the second slowest pace in the NBA when number 77 got hurt on Feb. 2 at just 96.19 possessions per game. Fans saw things speed up in the two games with Irving that Doncic missed, and the increased tempo continued with Luka back in the lineup on Saturday night.

Dallas averages 83.1 field goals per game, which is the fewest in the league, and they score 112.7 points per game. Luka Doncic’s greatness puts them 21st in scoring, despite getting the fewest attempts, but Dallas getting just two easy buckets in transition per game could put their offense on another level.

Kyrie is going to push the pace on some possessions. He is not afraid to throw a hit-ahead pass or just race up the floor to try to create an easy score. Fans saw it again on Saturday night, and Doncic was even playing faster in Sacramento. It will give Dallas a nice balance and makes their attack even more scary.

The Mavs were not over dribbling the ball and letting possessions get into the final seconds of the shot clock. The ball movement improved, and there was less Luka time of possession against the Kings. He was still controlling the offense, but Dallas had a bit more juice and the results spoke for themselves on Feb. 11 in Sacramento.