Luka Doncic embraces villain role as Mavericks topple Thunder, even up NBA playoff series
They were the last words of a crowd whose life was fading away, and Luka Doncic playfully stared it in the eyes, helping enunciate each syllable. With just over two minutes to play in the Thunder’s 119-110 Game 2 loss in the Western Conference semifinals Thursday, the Paycom Center crowd was at its wit’s end with Dallas’ wonder boy.
Lu-ka sucks. Lu-ka sucks.
Doncic had delivered one too many stepbacks. He’d hammered the nail in the coffin over and over until it nearly split. And he followed almost everything with theatrics. Seven fourth quarter points, three straight buckets and perhaps more accompanying F-bombs than Tony Montana ever uttered in “Scarface.” So Paycom began to chant, and Doncic bobbed his head to it like it was his favorite Slovenian song.
They could’ve sang anything for all he cared. The MVP finalist really bounced to the tune of an emotionally charged night’s winding moments, when it began to feel like Dallas staved off an OKC team that has consistently had a final gear.
“It’s great for me,” Doncic said of the jeers he heard Thursday. “I love it.”
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From tip, it grew evident: The Luka Doncic that patrolled the arena on Thursday was not the Luka Doncic that lagged behind two nights earlier or for much of the first round. Doncic with the burden of a knee sprain was missing. Doncic that was stuck inside the confines of the Dorture Chamber on Tuesday was nowhere to be found.
He finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He helped Dallas get into actions quicker. The stepbacks he tried a game earlier actually fell.
The thing that had been there since Game 1 were his reads, flinging skip passes past an eager drop coverage or multiple defenders all the way to the corners. The corners that OKC lives with leaving open or rotating late onto. The corners that Doncic helped dissect Thursday.
Five minutes into the game, Doncic drove on Lu Dort, getting all the way to the right block before pivoting backward into Chet Holmgren’s chest. He kicked out to PJ Washington, who made a killing off sharing the floor with Doncic. Later in the quarter, Doncic pivoted past Isaiah Joe’s contest to throw an overhead heave directly toward Washington in front of Dallas’ bench.
Dort’s legend added a chapter in Game 1, holding Doncic to one of his worst playoff performances ever. Less than a minute into Game 2, Dort had already been whistled for a foul on Doncic. Later in the quarter, Doncic contributed to another.
“I’m gonna stay aggressive,” Dort said when asked about foul trouble. “I got six of them. If I gotta use all of them, I’m gonna use all of them. And the next man up, he’s gonna step up. So I’m not really paying attention to that.”
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After coughing up five Tuesday, Doncic had just one turnover in 41 minutes in Game 2. His fingerprints on Thursday’s game were different. In black ink, not smeared or indistinct. Three of Washington’s seven threes came from Doncic’s feeds. Washington went nuclear, adding 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting.
Even with Dallas making 18 of its 37 3s, the Thunder gave itself chances. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added eight of his 33 points in the third quarter. Aaron Wiggins began the second half in Josh Giddey’s place. Giddey played a season-low 11 minutes and ended up a minus-20. Wiggins entered the game and connected on a block and a 3-pointer within 12 seconds of each other.
Wiggins was on the floor with the unit that helped earn OKC its first lead of the game three minutes into the half. When Giddey reentered later in the quarter, his first possession was a turnover turned fastbreak.
OKC got looser with the ball, with five third-quarter turnovers in all. Despite largely mirroring Dallas’ efforts on the glass — OKC grabbed six offensive boards in the fourth quarter alone — the Thunder couldn’t make Dallas pay on second chances. It was 2 for 6 with those opportunities, and 6 for 16 on shots in the paint in the final quarter.
Daigneault was confident in his idea of what kept the Thunder from unveiling the late response it’s usually equipped with.
“A really good opponent,” the Thunder coach said. “They played really well tonight. We tried to scrap back into it. … We left something to be desired with execution. That’s part of these things. These are emotional games, it’s hard to sustain that for the period of time we have leading into this game.”
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Thursday night was Oklahoma City’s first sign — and its first loss since April 5 — that its postseason wouldn’t be perfect. That its second-round series could go the distance after all. That Doncic maybe had more than he’d seemingly let on in Game 1.
Few emphasize shooting variance like Daigneault. The pendulum swung as far as possible for Dallas, shooting 48.6% from deep on Thursday during a playoff run where it made just 33.6% of its 3s through seven games.
But Doncic’s control and semblance of normalcy didn’t feel like an anomaly as it unfolded. Only Doncic and his knee know how well he’ll hold up, but Thursday felt like a signal that he could continue to make the series interesting.
Two games into the Western semis, Doncic probably hasn’t sniffed Oklahoma City’s list of top-10 villains (yet). Klay Thompson was immortalized, his name forever linked to a game. Damian Lillard waved away the last era. LeBron James folded OKC’s best shot at a title to date.
Doncic got in line Thursday, mouthing sweet expletives and cracking open the door for Dallas to interrupt OKC’s previously perfect postseason.
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Game 3: Thunder at Mavericks
TIPOFF: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas (ABC)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Luka Doncic embraces villain role as Mavs beat Thunder, even up series
