“Unacceptable”: Luka Doncic Calls Out Mavs To Get Rid Of 1 Blemish After Game 4 Upset

The series between Dallas and OKC just keeps getting more interesting as both teams are going back and forth in the wins and losses column. After winning two straight games, one on the road and the last one at home, the Mavs suffered a heartbreaking 96-100 loss tonight, bringing the series back to even terms. And the Slovenian Sensation Luka Doncic was not happy with his team’s overall performance and pinpointed an “unacceptable stat” in Game 4.

Still processing the brutal four-point loss, Doncic addressed the Mavs’ abysmal free-throw shooting, “We just got to work on our free throws. We shot 52 percent. That’s unacceptable.” Usually thriving on their shooting from all areas of the court, free-throw shooting has been the Achilles heel for the Mavs in this series. But they hit a new low tonight as they missed 11 of their 23 attempts from the charity stripes.

On the other hand, OKC missed only one of their 24 free-throw attempts, hitting a series-high 95.8%. And that has been the story of this entire series. In the last two Dallas wins, they shot significantly lower from the free-throw line. On Saturday, they made 64% of their attempts while OKC made nearly 79%. Before that, Luka’s squad made a little over 70% and OKC shot an impressive 94% At this stage, when every little mistake could be disastrous, the Mavs cannot afford to miss, statistically the easiest shot in basketball, and Luka understands that.

Will Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving’s inconsistency hurt them?

Luka scored his career’s fifth playoff triple-double tonight, but it was not a pretty one. Definitely not one he would have wanted. He was constantly double-teamed and swarmed by OKC’s defense and was only able to score 18 points. Not only that. He was extremely inefficient, which has been a major problem in these playoffs, missing 14 shots from the field and making only two attempts from the three-point arc. Moreover, Luka missed a clutch free throw in the final seconds that may have tied the score and turned into a Mavs win.

Although still scoring at a high clip, Luka Doncic’s playoff averages have dropped to a little less than 28 points, about seven less than the regular season. Moreover, his co-star Kyrie Irving has not been of much help either. He finished with single digits for the second time in this series. Kyrie has been highly inconsistent in these playoffs too, with a mix of taking over in some games and falling flat in others. Tonight, he could manage only nine points, raising even more concerns.

When they were asked about the inconsistent form, Luka claimed that it has been difficult for both to function through the double teams and stated, “We just gotta find open teammates.” Going against the best team in the West, the Mavs might not be able to win if their two best players aren’t at it consistently.

So, Kyrie and Luka might need to have a serious discussion with each other before Game 5 and figure out how they can be more productive.