The Dallas Mavericks were hit with a third consecutive loss against the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Mavs lost 99-106 last night and their title hopes are looking bleaker than ever. Mavs star Luka Doncic‘s defensive performance and behavior toward the officiating crew have come under heavy scrutiny following the team’s loss and many feel that he is responsible.

Amidst the growing criticism, Doncic’s history of bad blood with officiating crews is well known. ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst also held Doncic responsible and did not hold back while critiquing the star player’s recent performance and this raises a question.

Is Luka Doncic’s on-court frustration valid?

Doncic ended the game with 6 fouls to his name, 5 of those were personal and 1 was offensive. Brian Windhorst felt he deserved more. “He should’ve gotten 3-4 technical fouls last night. The veteran crew that did this game stayed out of giving him technicals. If this was a regular season game, he might’ve been ejected because of the way he was acting towards the officials,” he said, implying that unlike what the player himself believed, the officials went easy on him.

In Game 3, it felt like Doncic was contesting almost every whistle. His constant complaints did not just take his attention away from the game but also led to several defensive lapses. “How many times did he take himself out of the plays where he didn’t get back defensively because he was complaining about the officiating?” asked Windhorst.

His back-and-forth with the officials left little room for his focus to remain on the game. His pattern couldn’t be ignored by anyone. In one such instance, he lost the ball twice because his attention was focused on getting a foul called on his opponents.

In such a pivotal game, a lack of concentration from the team’s star player is dangerous, and so far, it has cost them three losses. According to Windhorst, the Mavs have “begged” and “pleaded” with their player to work on his interactions with the officials but it has been to no avail. His behavior last night was the last straw for the crew as Luka was fouled out with 4:12 remaining in the fourth quarter after being called for a blocking foul on Jaylen Brown.

Luka Doncic is a hole on the court, says Windhorst

With only 4 minutes left, Luka fell to the ground after a collision with Jaylen Brown looked towards the bench, and mouthed, “You better f**king challenge it.” To his dismay, the crew had had enough.

When Luka was fouled out, the Mavs were attempting to bounce back from a 21-point deficit. Despite coach Jason Kidd‘s many attempts, the officials stuck to their decision and Doncic had to see his team lose from the bench. In those 4-something minutes, the Mavs could only manage 9 points. Doncic finished with 27 points on 11-of-27 shooting, six rebounds, and six assists in 38 minutes.

Windhorst’s assessment of his performance, however blunt, might have been necessary. He said, “His defensive performance is unacceptable, he’s a hole on the court, the Celtics are ahead in the series because they have attacked him defensively. He’s costing his team because of how he treats the officials. His performance in this game is unacceptable and the reason why the Mavs are not gonna win.” 

The Mavs are now down 0-3 in the series and history is not on their side. Will they be able to make a historical comeback and set a new record or will the team succumb to its weaknesses once again in Game 3?

Before leaving, make sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about WNBA star rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.