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Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic Points Out the 1 ‘Unacceptable’ Facet that Doomed Them Against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Jordan Samar | Last updated 5/14/24

The Dallas Mavericks missed their chance to go up 3-1 in their best-of-seven second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, losing 100-96 in Game 4 on Monday night.

Despite holding the lead for most of the game, the visitors fought back in the final period, and a couple of late misses from the free throw line by Luka Doncic and PJ Washington cost them the game.

Overall, it was a subpar night from the charity stripe for the Dallas Mavericks , as they shot 12-of-23 from there, while the Oklahoma City Thunder went 23-of-24 free throws, with Chet Holmgren missing the only one.

“We’ve just got to work on our free throws. We only shot 52 percent. It’s unacceptable,” Doncic said after Game 4 via Brad Townsend on his X (formerly known as Twitter).

PJ Washington led all Dallas Mavericks scorers with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and five three-pointers. Luka Doncic had a triple-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, but he only went 6-of-20 from the field, while co-star Kyrie Irving didn’t do much either with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, although he did have nine assists.

Dallas Mavericks need Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to click

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving haven’t been that efficient in the Western Conference semifinals because the Oklahoma City Thunder’s defense is locked in on slowing them down. With that said, Doncic and Irving vow to be better in the upcoming games.

“I think there’s a focus on us. They collapsed the paint very well. When we will drive it, they collapse the paint, almost five guys,” Doncic said via Joey Mistretta of ClutchPoints. “I think that’s been difficult for us. We just gotta find open teammates.”

“We’re making the right basketball plays right now. “I’m seeing three in front of the ball every time I come off the screen, pretty much blitzing me, pretty much telling me to get off the ball. With Luka, they’re telling (Luguentz) Dort to stay attached to his body, stay aggressive, stay physical,” said Irving.

“Continuing to stay aggressive. You know, making sure we play off each other. We create easy opportunities for ourselves when we’re doing that as a team. I gotta give credit to my teammates. They’ve been carrying not only me, but Luka in this series so far. We’re looking forward to Games 5 and 6,” he added.