The Dallas Mavericks definitely didn’t play as they wanted to on Sunday night.
They ended up falling 109-100 to the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
That puts them in a 3-0 hole against the Warriors – a deficit that no team has ever overcome.
Obviously, the entire team didn’t deliver in the ways they should.
But some people are putting the blame at Luka Doncic‘s feet.
Definitely didn't have anything to do with Reggie Bullock, Maxi Kleber and Davis Bertans combining for 1-18 FG, 0-14 3P. https://t.co/QHgCpgRZRQ
— Sweep-Prevention Dalton (@dalton_trigg) May 23, 2022
Multiple Twitter users are pointing out the fact that the Mavs were +10 when Doncic was on the bench and -19 when he was on the court on Sunday night.
However, others are pointing out that the rest of the team was bringing their chances down.
Referencing those plus-minus numbers for Doncic, one user said “Definitely didn’t have anything to do with Reggie Bullock, Maxi Kleber and Davis Bertans combining for 1-18 FG, 0-14 3P.”
Sure enough, the supporting crew on the Mavs had a very bad night on Sunday.
Mangling The Mavs
The Warriors were able to shut down some of Dallas’ best players in Game 3.
For example, Bullock didn’t secure a single point and missed all of his 10 field goal attempts.
Kleber also missed all 5 of his while Bertans was 1-of-3.
Even Dorian Finney-Smith was 3-of-7 throughout the night.
These guys have all been usually quite solid during the playoffs so to see them have a bad night was surprising.
It was also painful for the Mavs.
Doncic put up 40 points and 11 rebounds, yet another double-double.
Yet that wasn’t enough to carry his team.
You can look at advanced analytics about his performance all day long but there is no doubt the team needed Doncic on Sunday.
Sadly, they just needed a lot more.
NEXT: Luka Doncic Comments On Keeping Things In Perspective