Popular sports commentator Stephen A. Smith didn't hold back his thoughts as he blasted the Dallas Mavericks for their performance against the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
After the Mavs blew out the Celtics by 38 points in Game 4, fans expected Luka Doncic and Co. to carry the momentum on Monday as they try to keep the NBA Finals series alive. However, by halftime of Game 5, Dallas found themselves trailing by 21 points.
Doncic was largely ineffective in the first half, scoring just nine points and failing to connect his free throws (going just 1-of-4 at the half). Irving also struggled offensively big time, making just five points in the first 24 minutes of the contest.
During the halftime broadcast after the Celtics took a 67-46 lead–off a wild Payton Pritchard buzzer-beater–Smith went scorched-earth on the Mavericks and slammed the whole team for their performance.
“So where the hell is the disgust? Because I'm disgusted! This is Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and you're on the road, the stars show up!… Luka is holding on to the ball too damn much… Kyrie is just a no-show! Just an absolute no-show right now!” Smith exclaimed, via Awful Announcing.
Sure enough, Stephen A. Smith didn't stop there. As the Mavericks continue to struggle stopping the Celtics in the third quarter–going down 78-52 with 9:10 left to play in the period–the ESPN analyst took to X (formerly Twitter) to further criticize Jason Kidd's men.
“No fight in [the Mavericks] at all at this point. Completely overwhelmed by the [Celtics] right now. 78-52. Hitting 3's. Getting uncontested layups. Actually sad to watch. Expected at least a fight. Never got it.”
Mavericks vs. Celtics series
To be fair, it's hard to blame Stephen A. Smith for his commentary. After all, it is the NBA Finals. One team shouldn't be blowing out the other team and making easy work of them. Teams are expected to put up a big fight and be neck and neck throughout.
Unfortunately for the Mavericks, aside from Game 4 when they were on-point both offensively and defensively, they were just unable to match the Celtics' depth and talent. Irving was averaging 22.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the playoffs entering the NBA Finals, but through the first four games of the series with Boston, he was just not hi usual self and averaged just 21.0 points.
Irving scored jut 12 and 16 in Games 1 and 2, respectively, with his best scoring performance coming in Game 3 with 35 points.
Luka Doncic, for his part, has been putting up big numbers in the Finals with 29.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.5 steals through Games 1 to 4. However, his efficiency has taken a hit, with his 3-point shooting dipping to 25.0 percent in the Finals from 34.3 percent throughout the rest of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
The Celtics, on the other hand, have been utilizing a balanced offense led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Derrick White, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Payton Pritchard have been huge thorns on the side of Dallas as well, as they just couldn't find a way to slow down the Boston squad as a whole.
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