Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks saw something unexpected; Luka Doncic fouling out of the game. Watching the game at his friend’s house, former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers revealed he had already predicted Doncic fouling out prior to tip-off in the third game of the series.
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Doc Rivers made an appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast. While talking to the host, Rivers revealed why he could predict the Slovenian would end up fouling out of the game.
“I was watching that game over at Larry’s (David) house. Luka picks up his fourth foul, and Larry will tell you, I turned to him and said, ‘Luka is gonna foul out in this game. He’s not gonna make it through this game. He’s really emotional.’”
“He started playing angry, he started playing physical. And he started doing—He does this thing sometimes that all the great players do, they start daring the ref…I looked at Larry and I told him, ‘Luka’s messing with the wrong group tonight.’ This is not going to go well for him.”
Luka Doncic was on his way to having another great game in the NBA Finals. However, he was fouled out of the game with four minutes left in regulation and the Celtics managed to pull away in the final moments of the game.
As Doc Rivers said, Doncic started playing with excessive physicality and calling out the officials for not making the right decisions on the floor. His so-called beef with the referees caused him to foul out.
Luka must’ve assumed they’d never actually foul him out, no other reason he’d get caught in this foolish position pic.twitter.com/IEqntGhPNR
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) June 13, 2024
If you look at the video above, Doncic was called for a blocking foul while attempting to draw a charge from Jaylen Brown from driving to the rim. The comments section on X was divided into two categories; one who believed it was the right call while others were furious over it.
Luka Doncic’s efforts on the defense
Game 3 of the NBA Finals was fairly even for the first two quarters of the game. It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Boston Celtics managed to outscore the Dallas Mavericks 35-19. The Mavericks were making a comeback to decrease the deficit and win the game. But the fact that Luka Doncic fouled out hampered their chances of overcoming the lead the Celtics had built.
Luka Doncic fouled out of the game with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal. He surely was having a good game on offense but the same cannot be said for his skills on defense.
Most of Luka’s fouls came from the fact that the four-time All-Star just does not know how to stay in front of his man without fouling him lately. When asked Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd about the Celtics targeting Doncic on defense, this is what he had to say.
“He’s definitely got a bullseye on his chest, he’s gotta be able to guard and understand that we’re there to protect him.”
While Luka’s laundry list of injuries may be a reason for his lethargic showing on defense in the Finals so far, the fact of the matter remains that if the Mavericks want even a slight chance at turning this deficit around, he will need to bring his A-game on defense and hope that the Mavs can steal the next couple of games to make this series interesting. The Mavericks will host the Celtics for Game 4 of this series on ABC Network tonight at 8:30 PM ET.
