NBA analyst and insider Brian Windhorst has taken aim at Luka Doncic, declaring the Mavericks superstar is “costing his team” with his behaviour towards officials.
Doncic was visibly frustrated throughout points of Thursday’s game before eventually fouling out as Boston defeated Dallas 106-99 to go up 3-0 in the series.
Doncic’s consistent complaining to officials proved particularly costly when it gifted the Celtics easy buckets as he failed to get back in defence.
Speaking after the Game 3 defeat, Doncic clearly had plenty to say about the whistles that went against him — especially in the fourth quarter — but tried to hold back.
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“We couldn’t play physical,” he said.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to say nothing. You know, six fouls in the NBA Finals, basically I’m like this (motions with palms out). C’mon, man. Better than that.”
Doncic did add earlier in the piece that he was “trying to be better” and had to “get better” after being hunted by Boston.
But for Windhorst, Doncic’s attitude during the game — and some of his comments after it — were proof he is “nowhere close” to putting Dallas in a position to win an NBA title.
In a brutal takedown of the Slovenian superstar on ESPN, Windhorst described Doncic’s defensive performance as “unacceptable”.
“I thought it was perfect Luka fell onto the ground there in an unacceptable position to put himself in with four minutes left with five fouls and then immediately looks at the bench and says you better bleeping challenge it, as if it’s the bench’s fault that he just made a terrible play,” Windhorst started.
“I’m standing here in the Mavericks tunnel, over there is the Celtics tunnel. That’s where the winners are. If Luka’s ever going to be a winner coming out of this tunnel here, he’s going to have to use what happened in these Finals as a learning experience.
“His defensive performance is unacceptable. He’s a hole on the court, the Celtics are attacking him and they are ahead in this series because they have attacked him defensively.
“And you got a situation here where Luka is complaining about the officiating, they have begged him, they have talked with him, they have pleaded with him, he is costing his team because of how he’s treating the officials.
“He is a brilliant player, he does so many things well, they are here because of how he did. His performance in this game is unacceptable and the reason the Mavericks are not going to win. He has got to get over this.
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“The fact he came out after the game and blamed the officials shows me he is nowhere close yet. Maybe over the summer someone will get to him because nobody with the Mavericks or anybody else in his life has and that’s why the Mavericks are where they’re at. They’re never going to get to this tunnel with the trophy if he doesn’t improve those aspects of his game.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd admitted after Game 3 that Doncic has a “bullseye on his chest” but implored his star player to let his teammates ease the pressure on that end of the floor.
“He’s got to be able to guard and understand that we’re there to protect him and help him if he does get beat,” Kidd said.
“Again, he’s carrying a load offensively. They are putting him in every pick-and-roll and iso. He’s got to be able to play the game where he can rest on offense and let others carry the load.”