Luka didn’t hold back after he was told by a fan that he looked fatigued.
A big lesson learned for Luka and the Mavs
The sight of Doncic jawing and losing his cool isn’t new; he’s been doing this—to fans and even his opponents—throughout most of his career. However, what was new for him this time was coming up short in his first NBA Finals appearance.
The Slovenian averaged 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 47.2% shooting from the field across five games, but that wasn’t enough for Dallas. It also didn’t help that Luka was dealing with multiple injuries, such as a knee sprain, a sore ankle, and a thoracic contusion. He didn’t look 100% healthy at times, thus the connotation of being fatigued.
“It doesn’t matter if I was hurt, how much I was hurt, I was out there,” Doncic said after losing to the Celtics in the series-clinching game on Monday. “I tried to play, but I didn’t do enough.”
Luka led the series in points, rebounds, and assists average per game, but it was clear that the 25-year-old didn’t get the help he needed. The Mavs as a whole, including Doncic, struggled from the three-point line throughout the series and just didn’t get enough consistent scoring from Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and the rest of the team. Still, the point guard commends the Mavericks organization for making those trade moves to acquire these players during the trade deadline.
“We did some great moves,” said Doncic. “We’ve been together for five months. I’m proud of every guy that stepped on the floor, all the coaches, all the people behind. Obviously, we didn’t win the Finals, but we did have a hell of a season. I’m proud of every one of them.”
How do the Mavs build off from this?
Throughout Doncic’s six years in the NBA, one can argue that his downfall has been the lack of support from his teammates. It’s the reason why fatigue creeps up on Luka by the end of each playoff series that he doesn’t win. That felt like it changed this year when the Mavs surrounded the 6’8” guard with the best roster he’s ever been in, but unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough to beat this dominant Celtics team.
Now, the question for the Mavs is how they will build on this impressive Finals run. They allocated most of their assets, specifically draft capital, to this current version of the squad, so the best way they can improve now is along the margins. With two first-round draft picks left until 2028, Dallas has the choice to either make a big move or keep this core that’s only been together since the trade deadline.
The good news for the Mavericks is that Doncic is still relatively young. With more experience under his belt, the European superstar is only going to get better from here. However, once again, the pressure is on the Mavs to continue building a competent team around one of the best superstars in the league, just like they did this season.
