Luka Doncic dazzles as the Mavs rout the Celtics 122-84 in game four of the NBA Finals
Facing elimination and the end of their NBA title hopes the Dallas Mavericks delivered their best game of the NBA playoffs demolishing the Boston Celtics 122-84 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Luka Doncic was the subject of much conversation about his defense, maturity and leadership following the team’s loss in Game 3 and Doncic responded with a statement game scoring 29 points with five rebounds and five assists in the game without playing a minute of the fourth quarter.
Head coach Jason Kidd said Doncic’s game was its normal excellence and again critiqued the media for their takes.
“He was Luka ... he wasn’t anybody different tonight, there was not a different Luka out there,” said Kidd, “He played at a high level, he’s great, he’s been great, he’s one of the best players in the world, as much as we want to criticize him he’s a hell of a player. “
Doncic’s defensive intensity was the best it’s been in the Finals with him sticking with defenders on drives and making Celtics players work to score on him and notching three steals.
“Luka as we know can play defense, we saw that tonight. Some of the criticism that he’s had here of late for whatever reason talked about his defense and I think he stepped up and was there and he knows in Boston he’s gonna be right back there in the pick and roll and so he’s gonna have to compete and then play defense again,” said Kidd.
Doncic said Kidd’s defense is emblematic of who he is.
“That speaks a lot about him, you know, he always has players back. He always supports us so that’s a big thing to have a coach like that,” said Doncic.
Doncic’s offense was near perfect besides his struggles from behind the arc (0-for-8), going 12-for-18 otherwise scoring off turnaround jumpers, bludgeoning drives into the paint and repeated trips to the line.
As he has in this series Doncic was off to a quick start in the first half with 25 points, three rebounds and four assists. Doncic and Irving combined for 36 of the Mavs’ 61 first-half points while the Celtics mustered 35, their worst first-half offensive performance under head coach Joe Mazzulla.
The Mavs led by 13 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back taking a 26-point lead by halftime. The Celtics never trailed by less than 26 points for the remainder of the game and both coaches emptied their benches with around two minutes remaining in the third.
Doncic knows the job isn’t done yet and that it will take a gargantuan effort to get back in the series.
“It’s gonna take everything, it’s gonna take energy and special energy because it’s late in the season, we played a lot of games. So we gotta stay together and locked in,” said Doncic.
The Mavs will attempt to stave off elimination again when they play the Celtics at 7:30 on Monday at TD Garden.
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 10:00 PM.
