Luka Doncic fouls out as Mavs fall to Boston Celtics in game 3 of the NBA Finals
With the Dallas Mavericks desperately needing a win to avoid a 3-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, they leaned on superstar Luka Doncic who put up another superb offensive performance.
However, the Mavs fell 106-99 on Wednesday at American Airlines Center as Doncic finished the game with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists, his 10th straight game with at least 25 points scored.
Doncic fouled out of the game with 4:12 reaming after getting called for a block on Jaylen Brown. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd challenged the play but it was deemed unsuccessful. It was his fourth foul of the quarter and all of them happened in less than seven and half minutes.
Doncic seemed frustrated with foul calls throughout the game and afterward said he couldn’t remember drawing four fouls faster in his career.
“We couldn’t play physical I don’t wanna say nothing but six fouls in the NBA Finals...like this? Come on, man. Be better than that,” said Doncic.
In his postgame presser Kidd said he felt like he had to challenge because of how closeness of the play.
Doncic started the game off in attack mode hitting a step-back three over Jayson Tatum on his way to scoring 13 points with three rebounds and three assists in the first quarter.
The game was neck and neck until a 20-5 Celtics run which gave them a 21 point lead early in the fourth quarter but the Mavs would respond in force shrinking the deficit to single digits.
Doncic struggled from the field in the fourth going 1-of-5 from the field but found his teammates for three assists in the period.
Throughout the game the Doncic was hunted on defense by the Celtics on switches and off-ball movements and struggled to contain some of the Celtics best offensive players, yet Kidd pointed out how his offensive load contributes to his defensive woes.
“He is definitely has a bull’s eye on his chest and so he’s gotta be able to guard and understand that we’re there to protect him and, and help him if he does get beat, but again, he’s carrying a load offensively and they are putting in every action all at night,” said Kidd, “So he’s gotta be able to play a game where he can rest on offense.”
However, without Doncic the Mavs were unable to finish off the comeback effort with their offense unable to overcome the Celtics defense without the All-NBA guard.
Kidd said the Mavs would focus on taking things one game at a time as they attempt a historic comeback.
“Yeah, I think that’s what we talked about this evening after the game was, you know, just one possession at a time.We’ll, we’ll watch a film tomorrow and,, and get ready for Friday,” said Kidd.
The Mavs will now need to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit if they want to win their first NBA title since the 2011 season.
“I mean, like I said, it’s not over till it’s over. So we just gotta believe and I know we’ll say it’s first to four and we’re gonna stick together we lose together we win together so we’re gonna stick together,” said Doncic.
The Mavs and Celtics will play game 4 at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at American Airlines Center with the series on the line for Dallas.
This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 10:06 PM.
