Brian Windhorst goes scorched-earth on Luka Doncic following the Mavericks’ Game 3 loss
He was furious.
Mavericks Luka Doncic reacts to Brian Windhorst’s comments during the Celtics’ NBA Finals loss.
Dallas Mavericks fans were disappointed when their team lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals. They flocked to the American Airlines Centre, making it as loud as possible. Jason Kidd’s team’s early momentum-shifting plays got everyone worked up. However, they did not do well in the clutch against the Boston Celtics. Kyrie Irving was already on fire, but as luck would have it, Luka Doncic fouled out following a collision with Jaylen Brown. This was the tipping point for ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who slammed the superstar for his postgame performance.
“The defensive performance is awful. He’s a hole on the court, and the Celtics are hitting him defensively, which has given them the advantage in this series. You have a situation in which Luka complains about the officiating. They implored him. He is hurting his team because of how he treats the officials. He’s a fantastic player who does so many things well; they’re here because of how he performed. “His performance in this game was unacceptable, and it is the reason the Mavericks will lose,” Brian Windhorst stated.
Luka Doncic normally receives a lot of acclaim. Throughout the playoffs and into the NBA Finals, he has garnered a lot of praise for bringing the Mavericks to success. However, this was not the case following their Game 3 loss, which put Dallas on the edge of a sweep. While some fans were upset with the officiating, Windhorst couldn’t help but feel humiliated by the superstar’s defensive attempts.
Mavericks star fouled out.
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts after fouling out of the game against the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter of game three of the 2024 NBA Finals at American Airlines Centre.
Windy even blasted Luka Doncic’s attitude when he was called for his final foul and sent to the bench.
“When Luka fell to the ground in an awful position with four minutes left and five fouls, he instantly looked to the bench and said, ‘You better bleeping challenge that,’ as if it was the bench’s fault he made a bad play. I’m standing in the Mavericks tunnel; over there is the Celtics tunnel, where the champions are. If Luka is ever going to be a winner coming out of the tunnel, he’s going to have to take what occurred in the NBA Finals as a lesson experience,” he said.
The Mavericks nearly overcame a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit with a spectacular surge. While Doncic played a role in the comeback, his bad performance was also a contributing factor to Dallas’ early deficit. Then, when the Mavs needed him most in crunch time, he fouled out due to some dubious decisions.
Doncic finished with 27 points, six rebounds, and six assists, although he shot 11-of-27 from the field and 1-of-7 from three. Poor efficiency and awful defence combined to make this a disappointing game for the superstar, who has been playing despite injuries. Despite the injuries, Windhorst has expressed concern about Doncic’s mentality.
Now, the Mavericks are down 3-0 in the NBA Finals. No team in NBA history has recovered from this series disadvantage, but it is never too late to be an exception to the norm.
