Jason Kidd: Mavs Have 'Got to Grow Up' After Blowing 27-Point Lead to LeBron, Lakers

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was not pleased in the slightest after his team blew a 27-point lead in Sunday's 111-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I'm not the savior here. I'm not playing. I'm watching, just like you guys," he told reporters. "As a team, we've got to mature. ... We've got to grow up."

Kidd also lamented the Mavs' frustrations with the officials, saying his team "got a little distracted by the whistle" after building up the massive lead.

"We have to grow up if we want to win a championship," he added. "What the Lakers just showed us is [in a race] it's not the rabbit that wins; it's the turtle. And they worked the game. And that's what we have to get better at."

The disappointment for the Mavericks is that the team is now just 3-3 in games Kyrie Irving has played in since being acquired from the Brooklyn Nets, losing three of the last four. Some growing pains are to be expected as Irving and Luka Dončić learn to coexist.

And some eyes are going to turn to Kidd himself after such a disappointing meltdown like the one Sunday:

Every game matters for the 32-30 Mavericks in the jumbled Western Conference. Currently the Mavs find themselves as the No. 6 seed, just barely out of the play-in tournament spots. The Mavericks are only a game ahead of a trio of teams (Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors) but also just a game behind the Phoenix Suns (currently the No. 4 seed) and Los Angeles Clippers (No. 5).

The race for the top six seeds in the West is going to be intense, in other words, and ending the team's mini skid as quickly as possible will be key. Kidd, at least, is laying the blame at his players' feet after Sunday's dispiriting loss.