Stupefaction by double or triple in the TD Garden in Boston. When the action led to one thing, the referees changed their criteria and left a crowd without candy that celebrated the day of tribute to Kevin Garnett. The celebration was bitter for a group, the green, which was on a roll in game and results. Luka Doncic seems like one of those men who clip their wings every time he walks by.
A decision Not without controversy and difficult to justify, although with a plausible explanation, it ended up deciding a great game on Sunday between the Celtics and the Mavericks. With 4.9 seconds to go, Smart shot a three-pointer to equalize, with the score at 92-95 (final), and the referees decided, after the coach challenge shouted for by Doncic and granted by Kidd, that his hand touched Marcus’s only because of the local guard’s intention and not his fault. The explanation of Steve Javie, the former referee who usually delve into these decisions on video arbitration on television, is based on the fact that Smart went to seek contact with Doncic’s hand, which did not invade his space, after the ball was thrown towards the hoop. The three shots that could have forced overtime were nullified, though the Celtics had a shot on the next possession to make it happen. He will take a few days to heal this wound.
It was a perfectly written script for the NBA, but it didn’t win the show. The groundbreaking decision left the majority thinking as the match expired. However, it should be noted that the role of Luka Doncic It is not limited to that moment but spreads like a blanket for everything that was an agonizing performance that defines him as an animal that eats games in bites that he should not even force. For example, he hit a 3-pointer and then soaked up the defense for Spencer Dinwiddie to give the Mavs the lead for good.
The constancy of a Doncic hungry for European time again burst a rival. In the first leg, in Dallas, he beat them with an unusual shot. In the Garden he preferred to pull the epic of the physical, keeping his body to the limit for three quarters to finish on top. His muscle injury at the start of the game multiplied the merit of his 26 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, hitting all his free throws and with a good 50% (8/16) in those that were in play. But the secondary also did their part. Dinwiddie (18) participated well in the end and Brunson (14) maintains his level of almost always, but a great key was in the metamorphosis of Dorian Finney-Smith and the one that forced Jayson Tatum: The Mavs forward went from a horrendous first half to being decisive in attack, with 19 points and a streak in which the Mavericks managed to balance forces, and defended the opponent, who finished with 7/23 in shots after having The evening started very well.
“I knew they were going to agree with us”Doncic confirmed at the end of the match. So it was. Luka had his way from start to finish. In the first quarter he landed badly on the ground after a drive, taking his hand to the back of his left leg in what looked like a ramp or strain of that muscle. Half lame already put Robert Williams to dance, but he had to go through the locker room to be explored and on the bench he received treatment with a heater to recover faster. He was taking temperature later and ended up being decisive. Williams, precisely, did tremendous damage on the boards, with little opposition to force second chances or to end up overlooking the ones that came his way. In the second quarter, still with Doncic at half throttle, Tatum was the regularity and Brown acted as a fuse that activated his team after placing a blow over Maxi Kleber that made any fan scream.
Finney-Smith was the driving force behind the reaction. He opened the third quarter with a triple, scored another five minutes later and the Mavericks took control of the scoreboard with five more points signed by him. And in defense he stopped Tatum. The defensive Mavs we’ve seen this year came out of there at the end. The isolated plays of Horford and Pritchard or Smart’s snatches in the two areas were that, something temporary, if the thread with which Dallas wove was seen in front. In the last 3:30 the Celtics only scored one basket in play and the Mavs’ production was reduced to two triples, first Doncic’s and then Dinwiddie’s, with which they closed, in the narrowest opening, this confrontation. Match between two serious teams.
