Luka Doncic is hopeful the Mavs can still win the NBA Finals | NBA Today

Luka Doncic is hopeful the Mavs can still win the NBA Finals | NBA Today

so in the biggest game of Luca’s NBA career he fouled out with over four minutes remaining in a onep possession game it was just the third time donic has fouled out in his six years in the NBA and it was his first ever disqualification in the playoffs and moments ago I spoke with the five-time All-Star to just discuss how he’s internalizing the Mavs loss and a series that seems to be slipping away now that you’ve had a chance to sleep on it reflect on it a little bit how do you reflect on on fouling out for the first time in your playoff career yeah it was tough uh probably wasn’t the smartest thing um just you know it was a physical game uh to get six Falls I didn’t expect it you’re the ultimate competitor I’m sure you wanted to be out on the floor how did it feel watching your teammates have to battle without you when the game with was Within Reach For Those final four minutes it’s tough uh I always say you know it’s easier to be in a game than being on the bench uh I was more nervous on the bench do you feel like if you had been in the game the outcome could have been different I mean I feel yeah uh but you know I have trust in my teammates I think we played some good possession I have believed that we were going to win the game uh obviously having me out there you know helps Kyrie a little bit more uh so obviously I think it’ll be a different outcome but you never know so Kyrie said after the game you know what did you say to to Luca and he said at this point you just kind of have to give him a hug and tell him it’s okay but did you feel like you like your teammates down yeah of course I mean like I say you know it wasn’t the smartest thing to do especially in this situation is the finals uh you got to give everything a little tired out there uh but yeah you know ky’s been great for me uh just having him on here so what did you say to your teammates afterwards it’s my bad you know can’t do that especially in the NBA Finals you know regular season is a little bit different uh but can’t really do that in the finals yeah to be fair though I mean you guys did figure something out towards the end of the game it’s just hard to dig yourselves out of a a 20po hole what did you find towards the end that you feel like you can build on moving forward I think we’re having fun we’re playing our basketball uh that’s what we do we got stops uh we ran with paas and that’s that’s kind of how we play the whole playoffs you know uh outside one two games uh before the finals so just having fun on there we kind of forgot to have fun you have been dealing with a mountain of different ailments that continue to pile on how are you feeling now 100% you always say that I mean it’s just no excuses I never have excuses I know it’s a lot U A lot of people are banged up you know just at the end of the days a lot of games to play do you feel like you still have another level that you can reach even with being this banged up yeah uh especially you know uh helping my teammates out um uh you know they played uh a different kind of Defense we never seen before in these playoffs you know just let us go oneon-one uh so I think I have I have to to help out my teammates more your defense has been under a lot of scrutiny maybe because you’re hurt maybe because of of something else do you feel like you can help your teammates more do you think the scrutiny you’re under is fair yeah for sure I mean you know they always going to talk about it but the end day I don’t think the biggest problem is our defense at this point uh I think we scored three games on the 100 points I mean that gives credit to Boston’s defense uh but I think our offense is a little bit more problematic right now than than defense like I say you know we never scored three three times in a row on 100 points especially with me and Kai out there so that gives Boston Boston defense a big big credit so I think we got to do better job with that like I said on 20 points uh we got to play with mdle more Pace I know you said you’re 100% but do you expect to get another painkilling shot before game four it’s for caras probably yeah a team has never come back from an 03 deficit you know that you said that you have to have belief why do you have belief in this team that you can be the first because we’ve been through a lot uh we only been together for 5 months uh it was a moment in the in the regular season when we we lost like five six in a row and you know from there we just went up and I believe we can do it uh because because of teammates I have and the whole team we have great chemistry and we’re going to stay together no matter what I appreciate what he said but frankly I’ve heard from him before thank you and so it’s got to be actions over words um you know and I it doesn’t it’s not going to necessarily be just tomorrow you know it’s got to be going forward he’s got a lot of years in his career he can accomplish anything like you know what I want to see Malik is the interview two years from now after they win or next year or whatever whatever it is in the future when he’s holding the trophy and he’s saying yeah I remember that that’s what I want to see and I want that to start to go progress going forward well tomorrow you just want to see him set the tone of diving on the floor for loose balls things to that nature right like that’s what get guys going that’s what get the fans involved that’s what let your team know that you’re all in especially on the defensive side of things I bought us some tape for you ready for it okay I’m ready this the play that you’ve been asking for right here it’s coming up hold on it’s coming up soon as he get do here it go right here now look RJ this is the play that you talked about go ahead I was like yo what is he doing what you he’s already hit two threes he’s already hit two three what your strong side against Sam Hower a game of his life game of his life cuz he was guarded by LCA okay look here go the second effort the multiple effort plays right here again like Luca is pointing and everything look at Drew holiday just outworking him at the point look and look hard he’s complaining to everybody else he goes to the official doing the timeout forget what his team is talking about and still complaining about foul he could have had four or five texts called on him in this game forget about the fouls well we kept waiting for I I want to get back to this in a second but we kept waiting for some people to come along with Kyrie Irving Kyrie Irving to show up which he did in that game for Luca dones to show up in the same game and for someone to come along with them and and Derek Lively had 11 points 13 rebounds the youngest player ever to have a double double in the NBA Finals we shared his story with everybody uh yesterday here on our show just just take a listen to these really mature comments as he’s thinking back to maybe what went wrong for these Dallas Mavericks we’re trying to make them playing our game but we’re trying to understand what our game is cuz we’re not on the same page we can’t sit here and be like the ref did this the ref did that we can’t control that what we can control is the positions that we’re putting ourselves in to get those f you know understanding that if we’re talking and we’re being mad at the referees you know they’re going to end up trying to they’re going to get the last laugh I love him being a 20-year-old stepping up to the mic and holding accountability for himself and his team and I do think that in the conversation a lot of people are talking about the issues defensively with Luca he sort of redirected it to offense and if we’re going to talk about the offense good news Luca and Kyrie combined for 62 points right the bad news is the way that it happened 48 out of the 50 isolation plays were for LCA and Kyrie that meant their ball movement truly suffered and if you actually look at this number I’m going to pull up this dribbles the ball movement was completely different the Mavs are averaging 4.70 dribbles before taking a shot in the finals the most in a series in the last two postseasons while the Celtics are averaging 1.97 dribbles before taking a shot in the finals the least so those are two polar opposite approaches and two different styles and I think what Luca is saying is hey if we get everyone feeling good then maybe we can get more buying but it really starts with Luca setting the tone it does but also when you talk about like the way teams play the way teams are set up the way they they kind of manage this when you’re talking about great teams where you’re talking about the Cavs when you talk about um The Warriors those teams move the ball there was still ISO but there was also movement around that I think they need a little bit more movement you can keep the iso but you got to get more movement cuz if somebody’s out if somebody’s foul trouble somebody else needs to get a bucket you need that and that’s what the well it’s just it’s just hard too when you’re not touching the ball offensively and you’re asked to put all your uh energy on the defensive side of the thing and the your franchise guy is not doing the same thing Durk he caught Steve Nash with an emphatic elbow that looked like it might have hurt a little bit with the Mavs they were coming back in the fourth quarter here after everything that went down in Brooklyn Factor fiction Brian Steve Nash enjoyed rooting for for Kyrie last night fiction I think he was rooting for the name on the front maybe not name on I’m with I’m with you on that Wy I’m going fix it too a no way in hell he Steve Nash was cheering for everyone involved with the Dallas Mavericks organization period what a presidential answer there Richard Jefferson uh all right last up Chan should we do one more yes let’s let’s do one more all right the finals MVP Jaylen Brown is now the overwhelming favorite you can see him in practice right now chatting uh to win the award odds are minus 350 Jason Tatum in second at plus 270 so fact or fiction Jaylen Brown should be the finals MVP I said it earlier today I broke it down the most important shot that we witnessed yesterday when it was 100 to 98 and I’ll just say this closing time that’s what he does all right so saying fact I think it is fact he’s definitely the leader when you think about the plays in this series when we go back when we look back 5 years from now it’s going to be a lot of plays that involve Brown his play both on both ends of the floor I’m going facts he’s going to I I agree he’s been the best player on the watching we’re all watching the same game J kid said it after game game one well through the early part of that game though I I was thinking okay this could really get interesting Jason Tatum is really making a push for it here just wants to win the championship [Music]

Luka Doncic is hopeful the Mavs can still win the NBA Finals | NBA Today
Luka Doncic sits down with Malika Andrews to discuss the Mavericks’ struggles in the NBA Finals thus far, playing while being injured and more. Then, the NBA Today crew discuss how Dallas can make the series more competitive.
#nbatoday #nba #espn

0:00 Luka Doncic interview
4:40 What needs to happen for the mavericks to makes the series competitive?
8:40 Fact or Fiction

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