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While the Western Conference Finals is not settled as of yet as the Dallas Mavericks lost Game 4, 105-100, with the series in their favor 3-1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, sports analyst Bill Simmons has jumped the gun and talked about the NBA Finals. Though no team has ever came back from being down 3-0, he previewed the matchup of the championship series as the Boston Celtics facing the Mavericks and how much star Luka Doncic is going to be perceived by fans of the Eastern Conference victors.
With how insanely talented Doncic is as he is no doubt in everybody's top five players in the NBA, Simmons predicts on his self-titled podcast that the Slovenian-born player will no doubt anger Celtics fans. He would even go as far as to say that he will be an “unbelievable villain,” despite Kyrie Irving being on the same team who was with Boston at one point in his career.
“He’s (Luka Doncic) going to be an unbelievable villain. I was on some text threads with some Celtic fan friends and we're just all ready, we're just ready to be annoyed by this guy for two weeks,” Simmons said. “Even today, I would say the Mavs actually got a more favorable whistle than Dallas in this game. Everybody on Minnesota felt like they were in foul trouble at one point, and Luka, still every time they go to a timeout he's going under the ref and it looks like he's like pleading with a meter maid not to put the ticket on the car. It's just his demeanor. I think it's gonna go over great in Boston, oh no it's gonna go terribly he's gonna get razzed, yelled, heckled, people are gonna hate him.”
Doncic blames the Mavericks Game 4 loss on himself
However, before people can look ahead to the NBA Finals, the Mavericks are focused on putting down the Timberwolves for once and for all as they do not want to be on the wrong side of history. The Celtics were funny enough close to being the only team that came back from a 3-0 series deficit last season, even forcing a Game 7 against the eighth seeded Miami Heat, but could not get it done.
Minnesota is no doubt an explosive team and even more dangerous, a complete two-way team that can pop off at any given moment, but Game 4 was the only time fans saw them close out a game against Dallas. Doncic had another impeccable game where he scored 28 points, collected 15 rebounds, and recorded 10 assists, but put Tuesday's loss on himself according to ClutchPoints' Mavericks reporter Joey Mistretta.
“I think that game is on me,” Doncic said to the media after the game. “Just didn't give enough energy. So we gotta do better. They won one game, we just gotta focus on the next one.”
“We won three games, like I said it's first to four,” Doncic later added about what his mindset is heading into Game 5. “No matter if you win in four or in seven, just gotta win four….We gotta win four games. What mindset? We gotta win one more game, that's it.”
Kyrie Irving says Doncic blaming himself shows his leadership
However, there is someone on the same team that disagrees with Doncic's sentiment and it is part of the one-two punch in Irving that stressed that “he's not alone in this.” While he expected Doncic to say something of that nature, the veteran shooting guard expressed that “we know that we didn't play with the best energy” as he scored 16 points.
“I mean, he's not alone in this,” Irving said. “I expect him to say something like that, especially knowing how much he cares and how much he wants to win. How much he wants to lead our group. So I expect nothing less. I think you heard me too just say that it's on me. That's what you're supposed to hear from the leaders of your team. We know that we didn't play with the best energy, we didn't create enough opportunities for us to get easy baskets… Just gotta take the hit on the chin, man. It's not the first time we've been hit. Just competitive sports. It's what makes it great.”
Irving talks about the “consistent fight” of the Mavericks
The games have relatively been close between the Mavericks and Timberwolves despite the series being 3-1 in the former's favor, but the dynamic duo of Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns got it done Tuesday night. It was not the best night for Doncic's partner in crime in Irving who within the 16 points, only made six of 18 shots from the field as he admitted that he needs to just stay aggressive.
“I just feel like we have a consistent fight about us,” Irving said. “It doesn't matter what lead we're dealing with, or if another team has a lead on us, we always feel like we're in a position to win a basketball game. I think tonight some of those shots that KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) was hitting took the wind out of our sails. Anthony (Edwards) got down, got a few easy layups, few pull-ups. And then when we went down six, I just feel like we stopped pushing the ball a little bit. That starts with me. I just gotta continue to keep my pace up and get into the lane. Finish my shots that I have on Rudy (Gobert).
Mavericks looking to get back to the NBA Finals
Irving has been the perfect player next to Doncic so far in the series as he had 30 points in Game 1 and 33 in Game 2 to put the series most likely out of reach for the Timberwolves.
“Those are things that I'm going to correct moving forward. But I just gotta stay aggressive,” Irving continued. “We just have to consistently do the little things.. Coming out tonight we felt like we were okay. You can tell it was an emotional fatigue… Everybody was pressured. Now we just gotta deal with this one, deal with this loss and get ready for Minnesota and enjoy that ride there man because it's going to be hostile.”
In any sense, the Mavericks are one win away from going back to the NBA Finals which would be the first time since 2011 where Dirk Nowitzki and company beat the Miami Heat led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. They look to end the series in Game 5 which will take place Thursday night, however it will be in enemy territory in Minnesota. There's no doubt that Doncic needs to be the “villain” as Simmons stated.
