Kendrick Perkins Blames Luka Doncic for Mavericks' Collapse

• Kendrick Perkins has blamed Luka Doncic for the Dallas Mavericks' dreadful run
• Dallas lost seven of their last eight games and sit 11th in the Western Conference
• Their play-in hopes are hanging by a thread with three games left in the regular season

The Dallas Mavericks have been terrible in the last few weeks. They have gone 8-16 since Kyrie Irving joined the team after a blockbuster trade from the Brooklyn Nets.

They have won once in their past eight games and Kendrick Perkins feels all of that is the fault of franchise superstar, Luka Doncic.

They are 11th in the Western Conference (37-42) and with three games remaining in the regular season, their hopes of making the play-in tournament are hanging by a thread.

To get a play-in spot, Jason Kidd's team would need to win two more games than tenth-placed Oklahoma City Thunder (38-41) or three more than ninth-placed Minnesota Timberwolves (39-40), since both teams own the tie-breaker over the Mavericks, per Dallas News.

Mavericks handed crushing defeat by Miami Heat

NBA

Two straight embarrassing defeats to the Charlotte Hornets capped off a truly miserable run. In hindsight, those two games were a must-win. However, here they are faced with a conundrum as the season draws to a close, per the Athletic.

Perkins blames Doncic

Doncic was a serious MVP candidate and had been having a career season. He is averaging 32.8 points per game, which is the second-best in the league behind Joel Embiid's 33.0.

ESPN analyst and former NBA center, Kendrick Perkins said the responsibility falls on the Slovenian's shoulders.

"Luka, it's not everybody else around you all the time. Sooner or later, it is you,” Perkins said. “It's easy to say it's Kyrie's fault or that J-Kidd doesn't know what he's doing. At what point do we start pointing the finger at Luka?" via Basketball Network.

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Doncic is known for his relentless pestering of referees which has attracted criticism from fans. Perkins is unhappy about the star's body language.

"When I watch Luka, I get so disturbed by his body language. Not only towards the officiating but towards his teammates."

Dallas lose out to Hawks

Sports Brief previously reported on the Mavericks suffering another heartbreaking defeat, this time to the Atlanta Hawks in overtime.

The Hawks survived Irving's 41, the Mavs came back from 15 down, and Doncic underwhelmed before a costly foul sealed the game.

The foul saw Hawks' Trae Young sink two game-winning free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining in a game in which Doncic struggled.