Both Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks as a whole have been a bit underwhelming coming off their Cinderella run to the 2024 NBA Finals. Doncic has struggled with inefficiency, shooting just 42.9% from the field and 32.1% from deep, and perhaps unsurprisingly as a result, the Mavs are just 5-7 overall this season.
However, it’s fair to say the seventh loss on that record might be the most embarrassing yet for both the Mavericks, and more specifically for Doncic. Because with a chance to move to .500 against the woeful, now 3-8 Jazz, the Mavs handed Utah maybe the easiest game-winning basket you’ll see this season, if not ever, due to Luka just… standing around, doing whatever he’s doing here:
After a missed Naji Marshall three on the other end, that easy dunk would prove to be the game’s deciding basket. And while Doncic has never been known as a lockdown defender… come on. This is just an embarrassing lack of focus from any player, even a superstar who has to carry as much of a load offensively as Doncic does.
And as you might expect, habits that lethargic aren’t just limited to crunch time for Luka — there was also this possession earlier in the same game:
To his credit, Luka took some accountability for the lapse after the loss…
Luka Dončić takes the blame for the defensive breakdown that led to John Collins’ go-ahead dunk: “It was a misunderstanding. I thought I was going to go hit, and Grimes thought he was going to go hit. And it was a lob, so we misunderstood the bench. That’s on me.”
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) November 15, 2024
…but didn’t exactly exude a sense of responsibility when asked about his team’s struggles to close out games in general:
Luka Dončić on what’s caused the Mavericks’ fourth consecutive single-possession loss: “If I would know, we wouldn’t be, right? So I wouldn’t know.”
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) November 15, 2024
Seems like it might be standing around on defense, dude, but what do I know?
It’s all been part of the same trend of general unseriousness for these Mavericks this season, and while it may start with their star and leader, our own Kirk Henderson made it clear over at Mavs Moneyball that these types of lapses aren’t limited to just Luka.
From their recap of the 115-113 loss:
It’s inexcusable, but also shockingly common from these Mavericks. Luka will make headlines with his boneheaded play and his consistently atrocious body language, but the Mavericks played like a team out of sorts for the 11th time in 12 games. They only looked awake and coherent against a reeling Orlando team. Every other game has featured an abundance of mental lapses and uninspiring play and every fan that tunes in to watch this should demand more.
And at some point, no matter how much they’re asking Luka to do offensively, you’d expect the Mavericks to demand a bit more from him, too.