That’s the Luka Doncic the world was looking for.
On Friday night in Dallas, in a 122-84 destruction of the Boston Celtics to send the NBA Finals back East for a Game 5, Doncic & Co. kept alive a sliver of hope that the wildest of NBA Finals comebacks are possible — to say nothing of a little self respect.
Yes, this was just one game. Yes, the Celtics only need a single win to send the Dallas Mavericks packing. Yes, it’s still true no team has ever mounted a 3-0 series comeback in the playoffs, let alone in the Finals. And, yes, after 48 hours of brutally honest and well-deserved criticism, Doncic finally acting and playing like the star and leader he needs to be doesn’t exactly add up to a full redemption story.
But it’s a really good start.
Doncic dropped 13 of his 29 points in the first quarter, setting the tone for an early lead Dallas never relinquished. He finally played defense with some self respect and effort, setting the tone for a Mavs defense that limited the Celtics to an embarrassing 84 points on just better than 36% shooting. He stopped barking at the refs and acting like an angry man child and — there’s a pattern emerging here — set the tone for a team that played with dignity instead of disarray, and got a win in part as a result.
What a shock: As stars go, and lead — or as they don’t — so go their teams. Especially this Luka-led Mavs squad.
Luka did not prove his doubters wrong by winning a single game in the playoffs. To be down 3-0 and win Game 4 at home isn’t exactly revolutionary — this wasn’t the second coming of Michael Jordan.
Gentlemen’s sweeps are a thing for a reason. Boston had to fly home Friday night regardless of the outcome, and the Celtics clearly let go of some of their zeal and fear and focus after having come to the brink of a title. That’s human nature. So was Dallas playing to stave off humiliation, and playing with the kind of house-money freedom that comes when deep down the series already feels over.
The same thing happened to the 2017 Golden State Warriors, who, in 2017, rattled off…
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