The Dallas Mavericks’ chances of winning the championship are tending towards zero after their 99:106 defeat against the Boston Celtics in Game 3. Luka Doncic also took responsibility for the defeat, admitting that he could not afford to commit six fouls in the Finals
After just a few minutes in the fourth quarter, the Mavs appeared to be clinically dead in front of their home crowd, with the deficit to the Celts growing to 21 points. A furious comeback made things tense again, but Dallas had to make do without Luka Doncic in the final minutes.
The Slovenian picked up his sixth foul four minutes before the end when he tried to draw an offensive foul against Jaylen Brown. He had only just conceded foul number five and was disqualified for the sixth. “It wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done, especially in that situation,” Doncic admitted in an interview with ESPN the day after Game 3.
“That was my mistake, you can’t do that – not in the NBA Finals,” Doncic continued. “Maybe in the regular season it’s different, but in the NBA Finals you really can’t do that. “
Doncic honest: “I have to stop doing that “
He had already often complained to the referees about their whistles or non-whistles. He has been notorious for this throughout the league for years. Complaining to the referees led to him not being back on defense in time a few times in Game 3 and Boston being gifted easy points.
“I have to stop doing that,” Doncic said. “I really want to win. Sometimes I don’t show it the right way. But at the end of the day, it’s all about wanting to win. I have to do better though.”
Regardless of the discussions with the referees and his six fouls, Doncic was not at his best in Game 3. Although he scored 27 points, he only drained a meager 11 of his 27 attempts from the field (1/7 threes). It is also true that the Mavs star has been playing with an ailment for some time. He was recently injected with painkillers for a bruise on his ribcage. According to Doncic, that will “probably” also be the case before Game 4 on Saturday night (2.30 a.m. German time).
Doncic and the search for fun
Then Dallas will try to do something that no team has ever managed in the long history of the NBA: turn around a 0:3 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Doncic is far from giving up hope and drew a comparison with the regular season, when the Mavs managed to turn things around after the All-Star Break and a slump.
“I know that was the regular season. But that’s when we found each other. Our chemistry from that point on was great,” explained Doncic. “We have to believe in it. I know we can do it.” And how? “Have fun playing again. We talked about how we came back from a 21-point deficit. We had fun. We defended. We ran. We made the game fast and just took good shots.” Clutching at the final straw, Dallas will need the same in Game 4.