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The Dallas Mavericks are coming off a tough NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics. The Mavs' 106-88 loss marked the end of their postseason run. Luka Doncic was great offensively for Dallas, but he became frustrated during the series when foul calls did not go his way. Doncic's expressiveness seemingly translated over to heckling fans during Game 5's loss.
Luka Doncic stood his ground when the Mavericks were down
Doncic appeared to have a brutal NSF exchange with a fan sitting near the court during Dallas' deficit:
“Your mom's a f*cking h*e!”
Luka Doncic to a Celtics fan before losing the NBA Finals last night 😳
(via walid / TT)pic.twitter.com/qTyn9ZqlWR
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 18, 2024
Luka Doncic is no stranger to trash talk. Most fans remember the iconic meme the Mavericks star created with Devin Booker after Dallas beat the Phoenix Suns in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals. Doncic scored 35 points in the Mavs' 123-90 Game 7 victory over Phoenix. During foul shots, Doncic leaned over and gave Booker a look that paid the Suns guard back for his trash-talking during the series.
After the game, Doncic revealed that competitive chirping fuels him.
“I like when people trash talk to me,” Doncic said. “It gets me going. It's fun, man. It's basketball, there's gonna be a lot of trash talking, and I like it. It's fun for me. It's competitive basketball and I like it. So, it's fun for me.”
2022 was not the end of Doncic's bout with trash talkers. Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is as expressive as it gets when it comes to letting his opponents know he is dominating the game. However, Edwards and the T-Wolves fell on the opposite side of domination after the Mavericks won the 2024 Western Conference Finals in five games.
Just like with Booker, Doncic appeared to lean over and have a chat with Edwards near the series' end. Although, Doncic told reporters he could not repeat what he said to Edwards.
Luka Doncic will surely have more trash-talking battles ahead of him. The Mavericks' NBA Finals loss to the Celtics will only fuel him to get better and show the rest of the league's competitors that he is not backing down.
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Mavericks look to bounce back after disappointing NBA Finals end
Dallas put up a good fight, but in the end, they could not escape Boston's high-caliber resistance. The Celtics held the Mavericks under 100 points in every game of the series. Luka Doncic averages nearly 30 points per contest, but Jaylen Brown's ferocious defense made things harder for him. Furthermore, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday threw Doncic's backcourt partner Kyrie Irving off.
Irving started the Dallas series off with underwhelming scoring. He amassed just 12 points in Game 1 before totaling 16 in Game 2. Furthermore, Irving shot a lowly zero percent on three-pointers through his first two games. By the time the star forward got warmed up, the Mavs were down 2-0.
Despite his team's defeat, Irving sent Dallas an encouraging message.
“Tribe, stay together no matter what. Through the ups and downs, wins and losses, success and failure. Keep your head up high. This mission is bigger than us. I love you all!” Irving posted on X after the series-ending Game 5 loss.
The Mavs look to recover from their postseason run and bounce back stronger in 2024-25.
