DALLAS – Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd passionately defended his 25-year-old superstar before Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday, saying the heated criticism of Luka Doncic in recent days has “gone a little too far.”
Then Doncic responded in the best way possible, putting on a dominant, commanding performance that led the Mavs to a 122-84 victory that extended their season and prevented the Boston Celtics from celebrating their record-breaking 18th championship on the court at the American Airlines Center.
“I think he made a few people take back their words in a healthy way,” Mavs co-star Kyrie Irving said.
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Doncic finished with 29 points and 5 assists in 33 minutes, resting the entire fourth quarter along with the other starters on both sides in the third most uneven game in Finals history. He scored 22 points in the penalty box, more than all the Celtics combined in the three quarters he played. But Doncic's offensive brilliance was never in question.
The criticism following Doncic's foul with 4:12 left in Game 3 that put the Mavs on the brink of elimination focused primarily on two aspects of the game: his defense and his tendency to let his frustration with the referees affect his concentration. On the day between games, he publicly vowed to significantly improve in both areas and kept his promise.
Doncic made a point of not complaining to the referees on Sunday, as he did during his 31-point triple-double in the decisive Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round, channeling his energy into defense and enthusiastic interactions with his teammates.
“We were focused, especially on defense,” said Doncic, who had the game's best plus-minus record at plus-30. “We played with pace. That helped them. I'm here to help them in any way I can. We just have to play like that.”
Doncic, who struggled in the first three games of the series as the Celtics relentlessly hunted him on defense, put in by far his best performance of the Finals on that side of the court. Doncic, who has taken great pride in his defensive improvements over the course of the season, forced four turnovers and held the Celtics to 2 of 9 shooting as their primary defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information tracking.
“I think what you see is him taking responsibility as best he can at this point in his life,” said Irving, who had 21 points and 6 assists, ending his personal 13-game losing streak against his former team. “He's a young person who's still trying to figure it out. I give him that grace. Also, we have to give him a little tough love by telling him and repeating to him to move on from these [referees] a little bit.
“I think those are just lessons he's learning. When he's that focused and not paying attention to the referees, he's a big, influential player for us and a great leader. We want him to stay consistent with that and not be too hard on himself either.”
Doncic's relatively poor performance in Game 3, when he scored 27 points on 27 field goal attempts before fouling out, was an outlier in what has been a stellar playoff run. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he became the fourth player in NBA history with at least 600 points, 150 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason, joining Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Larry Bird.
And Doncic isn't done yet, as the Mavs hope to become the first of 157 teams to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win an NBA playoff series.
“Like I said at the beginning of the series, it's game one to game four,” Doncic said. “We're going to believe in it until the end. So we just have to keep going. I have a lot of faith in this team that we can do it.”
