Before Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals, Luka Doncic took the time to sign autographs for fans at TD Garden. While Doncic was doing so, a young Boston Celtics fan asked for a selfie with him, and he agreed to it. Right after the picture was taken, though, the fan proceeded to troll the Slovenian.
“It’s still Celtics in four, though,” the fan said. “You know it’s Celtics in four, right? 0 points.”
Doncic didn’t have any kind of reaction whatsoever to what the kid had to say and walked into the tunnel. Maybe he didn’t really hear any of it or simply didn’t care about what some child had to say.
As for the fan stating that Doncic would have 0 points, well he ended up with a lot more than that. The 25-year-old recorded 32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, and 4 steals in Game 2 and shot 12-21 from the field. It was his second straight 30-point game in the Finals, as he continues to shine on the big stage.
Unfortunately for Doncic, that can’t be said about the rest of the team. They underwhelmed yet again, for the most part, and as a result, the Dallas Mavericks slumped to a 105-98 loss to go down 2-0 in the series.
Thanks to that result, the fan’s prediction about the Celtics winning in four still has a chance to be right. I don’t think this series will end in a sweep, but it is certainly not looking good for the Mavericks at this point.
Luka Doncic Took Responsibility For The Loss In Game 2
While so many of his teammates failed to deliver in this one, Luka wasn’t in the mood to throw them under the bus. In his postgame press conference, Doncic blamed himself for the Mavericks’ Game 2 loss.
“It didn’t work because we lost. At the end of the day, we’ve got to make some more shots. I think my turnovers and my missed free throws cost us the game. So I’ve got to do way better in those two categories. At the end of the day, we’ve got to make shots.”
Doncic went 4-8 from the line and had 8 turnovers, which certainly did hurt the Mavericks. You appreciate the fact that the five-time All-Star held himself accountable there, but I wouldn’t blame him a whole lot for the loss. He was the only reason why this game was even close and is also having to play through various injuries.
With the series now heading to Dallas, you’d hope that Doncic’s teammates would start to step up. He especially needs Kyrie Irving to get going.
Irving has averaged 14.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in the Finals thus far and has shot 35.1% from the field. Those are woeful averages by his high standards and if Kyrie doesn’t start playing better, the Mavericks have no shot at turning this series around.
We saw Irving struggle from a scoring standpoint in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder (15.7 PPG in the series), but it didn’t end up hurting the Mavericks. It is hurting them here, though, as the Celtics are a far better team than the Thunder.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
