For all intents and purposes, the NBA Finals are over. While the Boston Celtics have not officially lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy yet, they’re in as good of a position as they could possibly be after Game 3 on Wednesday night. After a 106-99 win over the Mavericks in Dallas, Boston now finds itself with a 3-0 series lead, which no team has ever blown in NBA history.
Game 3 looked like it had the potential for Dallas to get back into the series, as Kristaps Porzingis was out with an injury and both Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic were hitting shots. But as the second half went on, Doncic specifically struggled on the defensive end, as the Celtics went at him time and time again. To cap off his night, Doncic committed his sixth foul of the game with more than four minutes left in the fourth quarter as Dallas was trying to pull off a comeback.
This put a damper on a 27-point outing from Doncic, and after the game, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst went onto SportsCenter and tore into him for his performance.
@WindhorstESPN mentions what has to change for Luka and the Mavs pic.twitter.com/vyzhoYMQ8g
— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) June 13, 2024
Specifically, Windhorst focused on the way Doncic performed on the defensive end of the floor, which he called “unacceptable” and described as “a hole on the court.” He also went off on Doncic for his long-standing habit of riding the officials, which Windhorst believes is “costing his team.”
“Maybe over the summer, somebody will get to him, because nobody with the Mavericks or anybody else in his life has, and that’s where the Mavericks are at this point,” Windhorst said. “They’re never gonna get to this tunnel with the trophy if he doesn’t improve those aspects of his game.”
None of this comes as a surprise, but it sure was something to hear Windhorst go off like this on a player who, for all his brilliance, has been criticized for his defense and his approach to the officials for quite some time.
