Basketball karma finally bit Luka Doncic in the butt.
On paper, the Dallas Mavericks have a massive size advantage over the Oklahoma City Thunder in their second-round series. It’s the kind of advantage that could, theoretically, push Dallas to this year’s Western Conference Finals.
But none of it will matter if Luka Doncic doesn’t start adjusting his priorities while flat-out simply playing better.
Monday night was particularly brutal for the Mavericks as they blew what could have been a 3-1 series lead in Game 4. For most of the night, Dallas was in complete control, holding several intermittent double-digit leads that felt a lot bigger throughout the evening. But in the end, a terrific shot-making performance from the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, combined with an awful Doncic performance, was the nail in the Mavericks’ coffin.
It’s almost poetic that Doncic missed a game-tying free throw in the final moments after getting fouled. It’s like the basketball gods said, “As much as you want it, we’re not going to give you this one.”
To be completely fair to Doncic, he is injured right now. He’s playing through respective knee and ankle ailments that have clearly slowed him down amid what might be the worst overall postseason performance of his career. In a way, with their best player playing so poorly, it’s remarkable that the Mavericks are two wins away from the Conference Finals.
Still, it doesn’t excuse much of Doncic’s approach. At this point in his career, he is notorious for his “theatrics” while trying to draw fouls instead of getting quality shot attempts up. To continue executing this process while he struggles to even move just seems foolish and is probably at least partly contributing to his abysmal shooting (6-of-20 on Monday night). Not to mention that Doncic, as he is known to do, has consistently tried to lobby officials for a call every single time he shoots. It doesn’t feel like he is 100 percent focused on the task at hand in the middle of a tense playoff battle.
If I didn’t know any better, Doncic has some major misplaced priorities right now, with his team needing so much more from its franchise player in a big moment. He had better get it together quickly, or the Mavericks will be in real trouble come Wednesday night’s Game 5.
