Mavericks’ Luka Doncic shuts up critics with dominant Game 4 in NBA Finals

DALLAS — If there’s such a thing as saving face in the NBA Finals, Luka Doncic accomplished it Friday night.

He entered Game 4 under so much scrutiny that his coach, Jason Kidd, used the pregame press conference to lambast the media for “personal attacks.” And frankly, Kidd was correct. The Mavericks hardly have a deep roster. Doncic and Kyrie Irving are the only playmakers. Their third best player is. … PJ Washington? Dereck Lively II?

You get the point. Slim pickings.

Doncic carried the Mavericks through the Western Conference gauntlet, advancing to a place few thought possible. The 25-year-old is receiving painkiller injections before each game to deal with his injuries. Other players would have sonnets written about them for advancing to Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Doncic, however, was called out of shape and a baby. Perhaps there’s an overcompensation from the media to create angles while covering a rather uneventful NBA Finals, which followed a rather undramatic conference finals. Or perhaps the European players still carry a greater burden of proof to the American audience.

Yes, Doncic had a bad Game 3. He was a turnstile on defense and fouled out in the fourth quarter, even though the referee should’ve swallowed his whistle on that play. But he never will be mistaken for an All-Defense candidate.

Waiting for Doncic to morph into a top-notch perimeter stopper is like waiting for the DMV to become an efficient government office. It’s not going to happen. Take a number and sit. But defensive deficiencies never stopped the coronations of Larry Bird, Dirk Nowitzki or Steph Curry.

“If you’ve watched the Mavs, Luka has improved his defense. But some are asking him to be a shutdown defender. Well, he’s never been on an All-Defensive Team, but he’s been on five all-pro teams, first team,” Kidd said. “So that means he’s one of the top five players in the world. … But when you’re on the biggest stage, someone’s got to poke a hole. This will only make the great ones better. With LeBron [James], Michael [Jordan], the greats, the G.O.A.T.s, they all were poked at and they came back stronger and better.”

Doncic indeed responded positively Friday night. He dropped 29 points in just 33 minutes of an emphatic Mavericks win, 122–84, avoiding the sweep and extending the series at least three more days. Just as importantly, Doncic moved more on defense, picked up three steals, and was a game-high plus-30.

The Celtics, who shot just 36 percent and trailed by as many as 48, threw up bricks and were stonewalled. Given the narrative heading into the evening, you wonder how the Celtics only could manage 84 points against such a porous defender as Doncic.

Boston is a great overall team but susceptible to inexplicable duds. One happened in the first round against the severely shorthanded Heat (a 10-point loss), another in the second round against the Cavs (a 24-point defeat), and Friday was their worst.

“I don’t even know how to answer that,” Jaylen Brown said when asked why Boston played so poorly. “Next question.”

So the celebration was delayed. The champagne will move to the ice inside TD Garden for Game 5 on Monday.

The result — and certainly the point differential — was a surprise.

American Airlines Center was flush with Celtics fans anticipating a celebration. They weren’t the majority but they were certainly present. The Mavericks knew a green wave was coming. Security was ordered to confiscate brooms at the door, an arena worker told me.

Turns out, the brooms would’ve been worthless.

“It’s real simple. We don’t have to complicate this. This isn’t surgery,” Kidd said. “Our group was ready to go. They were ready to celebrate. Understand, we made a stand. We were desperate. We got to continue to keep playing that way; understand they’re trying to find a way to close the door.

“The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight you saw that. They let go of the rope, you know, pretty early.”