It was shocking that the Mavericks lost by just nine points, considering Boston led 91-70 after a Derrick White three-pointer with 11:17 left in the game. Dallas rallied back ferociously, cutting the gap to 93-90 on three free throws by Kyrie Irving with 6:11 left.
Irving then got within one with 3:37 left, but it was what happened between his free throw and jump shot that sealed the victory for the Celtics.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic fouled out with 4:12 to go, taking what was at best a mediocre defensive position on the perimeter as Jaylen Brown drove to the basket. Doncic was called for a blocking foul and yelled to the bench in hopes that coach Jason Kidd would appeal the call.
Kidd complied, but the verdict stood.
“I don't know. I don't want to say anything,” Doncic said when asked about the foul he was called for with 12 minutes to go. “Six fouls in the NBA Finals… come on. I'm better than that.”
Oh, so you can't get six fouls because it's the final? Is that the case?
Were there any bad calls against Doncic on Wednesday? Sure. But he, and others in this league, are victims of bad whistles from time to time. Winners get over it, losers don't.
And maybe Doncic isn't a winner.
Don't get me wrong, Doncic has the best offensive talent in the world, but if he is truly a winner, surely his individual success would be translating into more team success by now?
Doncic is in the final stretch of his sixth season after five seasons with the Warriors, but prior to this year he had led Dallas to just one Western Conference finals appearance, where the Mavericks lost in five games to the Golden State Warriors.
Dallas is in the Finals and is totally vulnerable, and so is Doncic.
The defense was absolutely awful, and unfortunately for Doncic, a good offense in the Finals isn't going to get the team a flag.
Luckily, time is on Doncic's side — he's only 25 and it's not hard to imagine him making another Finals appearance someday, barring a major setback — but this series, and Game 3 in particular, revealed that a lack of maturity is holding him back from reaching his full potential.
The NBA is filled with players who, no matter how well they play, never know what it takes to win, and Doncic shows signs of being one of the league's Russell Westbrooks, Chris Pauls and Damian Lillards.
If Doncic is fortunate enough to return to this stage, the defense needs to be better, the whining and complaining needs to stop and there needs to be some accountability for costly mistakes like fouling out with the team's season on the line.
Doncic isn't doomed just yet, but he is starting to walk a very dangerous path.
