The Mavericks’ first game in a conference finals since 2011 hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses. The Warriors have swept (112-87) and have advanced in the tie (1-0), leaving many doubts to the Texans, who will need to improve if they want to stand up to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and company. A game that the Golden State team has shown, from its veteran and experience in this type of situation, a great superiority and has been opening a gap until it exploded in the third quarter. In fact, the last five minutes of the match have already been for the substituteswith everything sentenced and the minds set on the second assault, which will take place on the night of Friday to Saturday.
And Luka Doncic, to all this, did not have his best performance. The Slovenian, denied and with a scratch on his face from the first quarter by the work and grace of Wiggins, He finished with 3 of 10 from the triple (6 of 18 in field goals) and went to 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, but a 6 of 18 shots, 7 losses and a -30 with him on the track. Objectively, a disastrous game, one of the worst he has played in a playoff in which he is leaving and in which his team has already passed two rounds: against the Jazz in the first round (4-2) and, in almost historic fashion, against the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals (4-3).
Doncic spoke precisely about the scratch after the match, downplaying a play that occurred in the early stages of the confrontation. “It’s something good. makes me look tough“, assured the Slovenian, who has not stopped there: “We can do things to be better. In the first half we had good shots, but we couldn’t get them down. It’s a typical playoff game, it doesn’t matter if you lose by 1 or lose by 40, it’s a loss… Some of the two teams will have to reach four wins first. It will be a great series“.
“I have to be better, today is not me. I have to be better for the whole team”, added the Slovenian. Of course, his figures have not been good, but neither have the team: 3 of 10 in triples for Reggie Bullock, 0 of 5 for Jalen Brunson or 0 of 4 for Davis Berrtans are just some of the figures of a team that has not made the open triples (3 of 19 at the end of the first period and 11 of 48 at the end) and that he could not with the intensity of a rival that did not need to be brilliant to win the game and that was already winning by 9 at halftime with a combined 4-for-14 shooting from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. In short, time for reflection, self-criticism and thinking of solutions. The Mavericks already started the series against the Suns like this and came back. Surely more than one remembers them. At the moment, 1-0 and to avoid the 2-0 they also had in the previous round. From Friday to Saturday, second round. We will see.