Luka Doncic didn’t look like himself in the Mavericks’ 95-117 Game 1 loss to the Thunder, struggling to get his shot falling all night. He reacted to his performances and took accountability for the loss.
“Who cares, we lost. We just gotta move on to the next one. I gotta be better, we gotta be better.“
https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1788061744969007226
Doncic put up 19 points, six rebounds, and nine assists while shooting 6-19 in the loss. His field goal percentage for the playoffs has gone down to 39.5%, comfortably the lowest mark of his career. Luka has been a playoff riser for every playoff series before this season but his struggles have been unavoidable this year.
Doncic is averaging 28.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 9.4 assists, over five points lower than his regular season scoring average of 33.9 points per game.
The Mavericks don’t stand a chance in the playoffs if Doncic can’t find his shot once again, as he is the offensive engine of the squad. They’ll go as far as Luka takes them, even with how good Kyrie Irving has been.
Luka Doncic Is Playing Through Injury
if you’re on the court while dealing with an injury, it’s admirable but isn’t a reason to justify bad performances. If you can’t produce, it might be better to rest instead. He hurt his knee in Game 3 of the first round and his struggles have been amplified since outside a great Game 5 performance against the Clippers.
He has discussed his injury in an interview before, revealing that he doesn’t expect it to get better without time off, something he won’t take as Dallas looks to make a push.
“I don’t think it’s going to get better before I get some rest. That’s a lot of minutes. Maybe the summer.”
Luka Doncic on his knee:
“I don’t think it’s going to get better before I get some rest. That’s a lot of minutes. Maybe the summer.” pic.twitter.com/Hots19XVDC
— Dorothy J. Gentry (@DorothyJGentry) May 4, 2024
Many experts believed the Mavericks have the advantage over the Thunder given their size and experience. That didn’t seem to be the case today, as the Mavericks fell victim to a hot shooting run and threw in the towel halfway through the fourth quarter.
One of the reasons for the demotivated Dallas performance has to be the foul trouble the team got into the first half as the Thunder shot 22 free throws over that stretch, surpassing their season average of 21 free throws per game by the half. the officiating was unlike what we have seen in the playoffs so far, with the physicality that was being allowed so far seemingly disappearing.
If Doncic’s knee is bad enough to continue hurting the lift on his shot, the Mavericks will be a second-round exit. While it’s an overachievement considering what people expected them to do before the season started, the high hopes that crept in after their late-season run will be left unmet.
Luka is expected to compete in the 2024 Olympics if Slovenia can secure qualification, with Doncic aiming to play in the Qualification tournament at the start of July. If the Mavs season ends in the second round, he’ll have over a month to prepare for that before another busy summer.
Doncic has played international basketball every summer since 2020.
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