The Mavericks fell to a 111-116 loss at home to the Clippers, as the Los Angeles-based franchise dominated the first half to jump out to a 33-point lead. Luka Doncic put up a triple-double in the loss but openly discussed his disappointing level of play and expressed how he feels he's letting Kyrie Irving down.
“I just got to help him more. I feel like I’m letting him down, so I got to be there, I got to help him more. He’s giving everything he has and he’s been amazing for us the whole series.”
Doncic put up 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the loss, shooting inefficiently and laboring through his knee injury. Irving scored 40 points in the game, leading the charge for Dallas when they overturned a 31-point deficit to retake the lead of the game before James Harden scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to beat the best clutch-time team in the NBA.
Irving has averaged 28.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists through four games of the series, while Doncic has averaged 29.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists on 38.6% shooting from the field. Luka has clearly dropped from the regular season and isn't looking like the superstar guard we've seen in previous years.
Luka Doncic Opens Up On His Knee Injury
Kawhi Leonard was ruled out of Game 4 after the shootaround had started, with the inflammation in the knee of the Clippers' superstar prompting the team to bench their star forward. Doncic is also dealing with a knee injury but played through it to try and give the Mavericks a 3-1 series lead.
Doncic refused to blame the injury and called the Mavericks' start to the game sloppy.
“It’s hurting, obviously, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Just came out a little sloppy, so we got to do way better than that.”
Dallas played similarly disjointed first-quarter basketball in Game 1 when Kawhi Leonard was ruled out at the last minute. It seems a more aggressive Clips squad without Leonard perfectly matches up to stop the Mavericks from scoring at will, though they did make a 31-point comeback before incredible late-game shotmaking helped them earn the win after blowing that big lead.
Kyrie Irving spoke on Luka Doncic's competitive mentality after the game.
“Knowing how well he knows the Clippers, I know he wants to play well, and I know he wants to make a bigger impact than what he’s doing now even though he’s almost averaging a triple-double… He’s a young kid in the playoffs going against a team that beat him twice. There’s a little bit of a mental fatigue there…”
The Mavericks will be rearing to bounce back in Game 5 of the series, as a win there gives them an opportunity to seal the series at home in a pivotal Game 6.
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