Luka Doncic’s terrible defense is an anchor weighing down Mavs in NBA Finals

Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Luka needs to get so, so much better defensively.

Luka Doncic’s was supposed to use the 2024 NBA Finals to make his case that he’s the best basketball player in the world. Doncic had valiantly dragged the Mavs through the grueling Western Conference gauntlet with an incredible combination of scoring and playmaking despite clearly being less than 100 percent healthy. His step-back game-winner over Rudy Gobert was the most memorable moment of this year’s playoffs, and his full court alley-oops showed we were watching a master at work.

The Boston Celtics were objectively the better team entering the NBA Finals, but Luka was the best player. He was going to have to be at the top of his game for the Mavs to have any chance in this series. It hasn’t even come close to happening.

The Mavs are on the brink of getting swept out of the 2024 NBA Finals after dropping Game 3 on their home floor on Wednesday night. The Celtics beat Dallas, 106-99, to go down 0-3 in the series. Doncic was spectacular at times offensively on the night, but it felt like he gave up even more points than he created with his awful defensive effort.

Doncic fouled out with just over four minutes remaining in regulation in a one possession game. The fouls were a symptom of Luka’s lazy defense, which showed up all over the tape. When Doncic was supposed to switch, he, uh, didn’t.

When Doncic was supposed to guard his man away from the ball, he quickly lost track of his assignment and started watching the ball instead. Do that and you’re automatically giving up two points against a team as sharp as the Celtics.

It so often takes multiple efforts to get a stop against a team as good as Boston on a stage as big as the NBA Finals. Doncic usually wasn’t even making the initial effort.

The fact that Doncic fouled out an NBA Finals game while giving very little defensive effort all night is frankly astounding.

Watch the play Doncic fouled out on here. The Mavs challenged the call and lost. This was always going to be a foul, and it’s a prime example of Doncic putting himself in a bad position.

Doncic isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt on obvious fouls just because he’s a superstar player. He certainly isn’t helping himself by loudly complaining to the officials after almost every possession that he either got fouled or didn’t foul someone else.

Luka, what are you doing?

The most frustrating lapses defensively for Doncic often start on the offensive end. There were numerous times in Game 3 where Luka seemingly flopped on one of his shots to try to get a foul call, didn’t get it, and then failed to recover back to his man as he gave up two points the other way.

Here’s one example:

Fans were flabbergasted at how poor Doncic’s defense was all night in a must-win Game 3. After the game, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst put Luka on blast for his disappointing performance.

Doncic still finished with 27 points, six assists, and six rebounds in the loss. Maybe Luka’s defense would be better if he didn’t carry such an immense creation burden for Dallas. Doncic and Kyrie Irving make every decision for the Mavs with the ball, and Dallas showed it was fine with that by building the rest of the team with play finishers and defenders. For as good as Luka is, it’s tough when he needs to create everything for Dallas just to generate a good scoring score.

At the same time, Dallas needed more from him. They needed him to stay in front of someone, anyone on defense. They needed him to stop with the silly fouls. They definitely needed him to start getting back on defense and keep a “next play” mentality even when he didn’t get the call he was looking for.

Doncic is 25 years old, and this series will be just one step on his journey. If he’s smart, he’ll look in the mirror and use it as a learning experience. Doncic has the makings of an all-time great player, but he needs a more serious approach defensively to truly hit his ceiling.