Jason Kidd has slammed the Dallas Mavericks bench for not showing enough energy after they fell to a narrow defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Friday. (More Basketball News)
The Mavericks mounted a comeback, fighting back from a 63-50 half-time deficit, but fell agonisingly short in the 114-113 defeat to the Suns.
Luka Doncic had 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Dallas, only to misfire on a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have won the game, while Kyrie Irving added 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Mavericks have now alternated between losses and wins over a five-game stretch since their 3-1 start, and Kidd has demanded more from his bench if they want to stop that run.
"It's got to be addressed. We have talked about it, there's got to be some action, there's got to be some energy. We're f****** flat, that's where it starts," Kidd said.
"We got to be tough; no matter how many injuries we have or how small we are, right now we are not doing that. We will look at the tape, we will get back to seeing what we can do better.
"It's a team. It's not Luka and Kyrie and Klay Thompson. Others have to participate. I played the whole f****** team tonight, and we couldn't find anybody, so we had to leave those two to carry the load, and it's not fair to them this early in the season."
Meanwhile, the Suns have matched their best-ever start to an NBA season as their seven-game winning streak improved their record to 8-1.
Jusuf Nurkic scored Phoenix’s final five points, scoring the vital point with one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left, snapping the 113-113 tie.
He finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds but says he is just happy to come away with a win, no matter the circumstances.
"A win is a win, man," said Nurkic. "I don't really care if it's [by] one point or 35.
"As long as you keep winning, that's great, because that's the best way to learn. Not through the losses. But also, it's good for fans, too. They're betting, all this stuff, so good luck with them figuring out how we're going to do it."
