The Golden State Warriors took away the Dallas Mavericks lead and eventually took them down in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
Despite another magic Luka Doncic perform, the Mavs couldn’t find a way to win. The efforts from Reggie Bullock, 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-7 from deep, along with marginal performances from key role players doomed Dallas.
The Golden State Warriors took a 3-0 lead on the Mavericks on Sunday, and superstar Luka Doncic sounded defeated after the Mavs third-straight loss.
Doncic has been cooking the Warriors, and it’s tough to slow him down. Andrew Wiggins has typically been the primary defender on Doncic, and most would consider him an above-average defender.
His athleticism has helped make up for his lack of size, especially in the post where Doncic has proven to be among the best in the league. Without a doubt, Doncic has still been able to get his, scoring 102 points through the first three games and dropping 40 or more in two straight.
However, after his most recent 40-point game in which he tallied 4 triples and 11 rebounds as well, Doncic, who is just 23 years old, sounded defeated. The Mavericks’ largest lead of the game was 9 points.
They were also within striking distance late in the game when several timely misses allowed the Warriors to pull away and two-time MVP Stephen Curry to take the game over. He finished with 31 points on 10-for-20 shooting.
That said, here’s a quote that Doncic said following the discouraging loss at home, a place they didn’t lose once when taking on the No. 1-seeded Phoenix Suns.
Luka Doncic: “The first three quarters, I played very bad. That’s on me. I’m still learning. I think after this season is done, whenever we are, I’m going to look back and learn a lot of things. This is my first conference finals in NBA. I’m 23, man. I’m still learning a lot.”
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) May 23, 2022
Doncic is right to reflect, but that feels like a quote best served for when the season is over. However, no one can blame Doncic for already understanding that he made some mistakes, although most would consider his “bad” play still far above average.
The Warriors still have to finish the series out, and Game 4 at American Airlines Center is not going to be easy. Dallas has been tremendous at home this postseason, and Bullock and company are going to be as disappointing in Game 4.
With that in mind, expect a good performance from Dallas, but it seems like at least Doncic is drained as the series is set to continue later today.