Luka Doncic was already having a rough night.
Then, an ESPN NBA reporter rubbed salt in the wound.
Doncic fouled out with 4:12 left in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ NBA Finals Game 3 loss to the Celtics on Wednesday night in Dallas, which all but buried his team’s chances of winning the game.
But it was how Doncic complained about his sixth personal foul and his general demeanor that seemed to catch the ire of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Windhorst, speaking with Scott Van Pelt on “SportsCenter” after the game ended, called out Doncic for the way he carried himself in the moment that helped put his team in a 3-0 hole.
“I thought it was perfect that Luka fell onto the ground there in an unacceptable position to put himself in with four minutes left and five fouls,” Windhorst started. “And then immediately looks at the bench and says, ‘You better bleeping challenge it.’ As if it’s the bench’s fault that he made a terrible play.
“I’m standing here in the Mavericks’ tunnel, over there is the Celtics’ tunnel, that’s where the winners are. If Luka’s ever going to be a winner coming out of this tunnel here, he’s going to have to use what’s happened in this Finals as a learning experience.
“His defensive performance is unacceptable — he is a hole on the court.”
Doncic still scored 27 points and collected six rebounds and six assists, but in his postgame comments, he said he and his team could not get physical with the Celtics, which led to him fouling out of the important game.
“We couldn’t play physical. I don’t know. I don’t want to say nothing,” he told reporters after the game.
This response, according to Windhorst, is exactly why Doncic and the Mavericks find themselves on the precipice of defeat in the NBA Finals.
“He’s gotta get over this, and the fact that he came out after the game and blamed the officials showed me he’s nowhere close yet,” Windhorst said. “Maybe over the summer somebody with get to him because nobody with the Mavericks or anybody else in his life has.”
The pointed remarks came after ESPN analyst Doris Burke called out Doncic in the first quarter after he failed to come back on defense in transition after missing a shot.
He instead lay on the ground and barked at officials as the Celtics knocked down their own 3-pointer.
Donic and the Mavericks now have their work cut out for them ahead of Friday’s Game 4 if they hope to save their season.