DALLAS — Less and more was being demanded of Luka Dončić, and given the events of the past two days, Game 4 of the NBA Finals Friday night wasn’t about the Boston Celtics’ coronation or the chance to cap off a historic season.
It was about the player with pedigree, catching loose points and hollow points from all sides and forcing his coach to passionately defend his star player.
So yes, it was the ultimate paradox for Dončić: more passion, less emotion. More focus on the field, less attention on the officials. More physical strength but less strength in his laborious style which gums up the Dallas offense.
For one night, perhaps it was a sign of things to come, or a simple stay of execution until the inevitable. Dončić and the Mavericks avoided embarrassment with a resounding victory in Game 4 at home, winning 122-84 at the American Airlines Center.
The tone was set 90 minutes before the game, when Mavericks coach Jason Kidd defended Dončić after two days of the superstar being featured in the media. Kidd felt the criticism was a bit harsh and too extreme for someone as decorated as Dončić.
Kidd did it because he knows he has to do it with the coach-player relationship under scrutiny in today’s NBA, and Kidd has been on both sides.
“That’s my job. My job is to protect him and tell the truth,” Kidd told Yahoo Sports after the game. “I didn’t lie or do anything out of the ordinary. We’re just went a little too far.
“We” refers more to the media, but Kidd felt that Dončić had always been in charge – his weight, his basketball character and many other topics were apparently being judged before Game 4 began.
“He never ran from anything. He would always sit there and respond,” Kidd told Yahoo Sports. “If he dove and dodged the questions… but he sat down and answered the tough questions. Shoot, guys run and hide and disappear and he understands that. But he’s front and center, and his character and who he is showed tonight.
If there was any nervousness, any belief that the Mavericks were going to abandon — if Dončić would just concede to a championship celebration happening in his halls — it was dispelled early.
If there’s any belief that the Mavericks can pull off the improbable and bring this series back to Dallas for an interesting Game 6, it’s the belief that Dončić can have another 25-point first half, as he punished the smaller guards and outworked the big guys on shifts to finish. with 29 points, five rebounds and five assists. His evening ended in the third quarter because the terms of the evening had long been decided.
“It will take everything,” Doncic said. “It’s going to take energy – especially energy – because it’s late in the season. We played a lot of games. We need to stay together and locked in.
Strategically, he moved around more because Dante Exum handled the ball a bit more, allowing Dončić to shed his James Harden costume and be responsible at all points of the court.
If this is repeatable, then we have a different conversation. Until then, it’s probably more frustrating that this version didn’t show up sooner – but the Mavs probably had to be pushed into that corner of desperation to do things differently.
“Maybe. But he’s a guy who can score,” Kidd said of Dončić missing the ball more. “He moved tonight and he felt good. So we’ll need that same feeling at Boston.
Even though the series ends in the most predictable way, this night was especially necessary for Dončić. A sweep would have been ugly but not a career drag.
This would not have been an indelible black mark on Dončić’s reputation, as better men have experienced more dire situations. Magic Johnson was once nicknamed “Tragic” – in bold headlines. LeBron James failed and failed, at the absolute peak of his career. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant suffered humiliation and discomfort.
The ultimate lesson is what good this could do for Dončić, provided he doesn’t do the impossible and bring this team back from a 3-0 deficit. The numbers indicate that the Celtics are one of the historic teams we’ve seen in a short time – four players who will likely end up in the Hall of Fame when finished, a team on the brink of the sacred and almost newly minted 80-20 clubs (80 wins and 20 losses or less) — so there is no shame in losing to a team that has barely lost a game in over a month.
This is why criticism of Dončić seems both valid and often hard-hitting, depending on who says what. Dončić’s greatness demands high expectations, however. He showed how he can dominate a game with his strength and skill, and it’s not unfair to expect him to try on defense, if only to not leave his teammates in positions constantly compromised.
It’s tempting to say that Dallas is discovering the Celtics, little by little. Kristaps Porziņģis missing a game again – despite being called active by Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla – could shift the tectonic plates as he is unguardable and difficult to contain when he gets to the rim to defend you.
But if he’s not there, Derek Lively II and Daniel Gafford can enjoy themselves a little more, for a little while. At least in the margins.
And that’s what’s needed for the Mavericks to get another win in this series, even if it comes in Boston. They feel they should have won Game 2 or 3, but they were the cause of their own loss – Dončić included, if not the main culprit.
Tonight, it was Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who struggled. Dončić and Irving have been on the same page all night, and Irving is doing his best to lead without being bossy towards his superstar teammate.
Kidd’s assistance to Dončić did not go unnoticed.
“I think it shows how important it is to have quality leaders in the locker room and someone who’s been through it, someone who can talk about it,” said Irving, who had 21 points, six assists and four rebounds. “And also someone who is more than willing to sacrifice himself to take the bullets and shoulder the weight of responsibility.”
“He knows how important it is for us to focus on the right things. We can’t focus on answering all these unfair and judgmental questions. Some of them may be right, right? But if you’re not necessarily playing with us, it’s going to be hard for us to connect if you’re talking shit about one of our teammates.
The Mavericks organization, rightly so, is protective of Dončić. Every franchise decision that has been made is aimed at maximizing its growth and ensuring its future is as bright as possible – hence the Irving trade and stealth recognition that landed them Lively II in the draft.
He’s not easy to build around, and perhaps not easy to coach, given the officials’ tantrums and shortcomings that would frustrate even the most neutral basketball fan.
But it is still so special and worth caring for.
“That’s our little brother right there.” He’s in the final. He’s going to make mistakes,” Irving said. “That’s also why I had this kind of feeling of peace about myself after the match. I’m not about to go up to Luka and say, “It’s all your fault.” That’s not how it works in our locker room. We definitely don’t want to get into these bad habits now. I’ve been on teams where we allowed media or opinions to infiltrate what was happening, and it didn’t work well.
Kidd kept the message consistent, without changing too much to distance his team from the things that got them to this point, and they responded.
Dončić responded and Irving said the Slovenian silenced the critics for one night. But the critics aren’t the opponent here, it’s the Celtics, and the pendulum of emotion could swing back the other way in 48 hours.
“I mean, it doesn’t change anything. As I said at the beginning of the series, it’s the first four,” said Dončić. “We will believe in it until the end. So we have to continue. I have great confidence in this team and we can do it, so we have to keep believing.
Journey’s cheesy song, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” came on during one of the fourth-quarter timeouts, so maybe it got stuck in Dončić’s head. Or maybe the words come easily out of his mouth because that’s how he feels.
But it’s impossible, right?