Luka Doncic was already having a tough night.
Then, an NBA reporter from ESPN rubbed salt into the wound.
Doncic fouled out with 4:12 left in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ Game 3 loss to the Celtics in Dallas on Wednesday night, all but erasing his team’s chances of winning.
But it was Doncic’s complaints about his sixth personal foul and his general demeanor that likely drew the ire of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Speaking with Scott Van Pelt on “SportsCenter” after the game, Windhorst criticized Doncic’s behavior in the moment that put his team down 3-0.
“I thought it was perfect that with four minutes left and five fouls, Luka was on the ground in an unacceptable position,” Windhorst began, “and then he immediately looked at the bench and said, ‘We better challenge him,’ as if it was the bench’s fault that he played so badly.”
“I’m standing in the Mavericks tunnel right now. That’s the Celtics tunnel over there. Winners are in there. For Luka to come out of this tunnel a winner, he’s going to have to use what happened in the Finals as a learning experience.”
“His defensive performance is unacceptable. He’s a hole on the court.”
Doncic finished with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists, but in postgame comments said he and his team weren’t able to be physical against the Celtics and fouled out in key games.
“We didn’t play physically. I don’t know. I don’t want to say anything,” he told reporters after the game.
According to Windhorst, this reaction is why Doncic and the Mavericks are on the brink of losing in the NBA Finals.
“He’s got to get over this. The fact that he slammed the umpire after the game tells me he’s nowhere near recovered,” Windhorst said. “Someone will probably stand up to him over the summer because the Mavericks and nobody around him have been able to stand up to him.”
This harsh statement, ESPN analyst Doris Burke criticizes Doncic He missed a shot in the first quarter and then couldn’t get back on defense in transition.
When the Celtics made a 3-pointer of their own, he lay on the ground and yelled at the referee.
If Donik and the Mavericks want to salvage their season, they have a lot of work to do before Game 4 on Friday.
