The Dallas Mavericks have been impressive throughout their run to the 2024 NBA Finals; they handily took care of the Kawhi Leonard-less Los Angeles Clippers, outmuscled the youthful Oklahoma City Thunder, and rendered the top-ranked defense of the Minnesota Timberwolves helpless. However, Luka Doncic and company have run into a major problem in the Boston Celtics, and after just six days, they find themselves nearing the end of the line with the Celtics taking a 3-0 lead in the Finals.

Doncic, in particular, has had a rough go against the Celtics. He may be racking up the stats through three games, continuing to lift the Mavericks offense on his back, but his defense has been exposed in the grandest of stages. In Game 3, ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst launched an all-out rant on the Mavericks star and his shortcomings on that end of the floor, all the while criticizing Doncic's penchant for complaining and poor body language on the court when things don't go his way.

Windhorst did not hold back, and Luka Doncic, despite being one of the league's golden boys, did not escape his wrath. But was the ESPN analyst justified in his rant? Here's why Windhorst was spot-on and why Doncic could learn a lot from what's being said about him in the aftermath of a suboptimal first three games in the 2024 NBA Finals.

Brian Windhorst has a point regarding Luka Doncic's defense

The Celtics have made it a point, through the first three games of the 2024 NBA Finals, to put Luka Doncic in screening actions. The Mavericks have mostly switched these screens, putting Doncic as the point-of-attack defender, and the Celtics have feasted. More often than not, they have gotten past Doncic off the dribble, collapsing the Mavs' defense, which then puts the entire defense in rotation. This usually results in a wide-open three or at the very least, a favorable mismatch somewhere else on the court.

The Mavs have tried to remedy this by sending help early to prevent the Celtics from getting too many advantages when they touch paint. However, this resulted in a bit of lackluster defense off the ball. Doncic was responsible for some breakdowns, losing track of Sam Hauser on multiple occasions.

Meanwhile, Luka Doncic also made the egregious mistake of foul-hunting on a few three-point shot-attempts of his. This, in turn, allowed the Celtics to go out in transition, as it was Doncic's responsibility, as the man on top of the key to be the first man back in defense. Thus, Brian Windhorst's rant regarding Doncic's defense is justified.

“This defensive performance is unacceptable. He's a hole on the court and the Celtics are attacking him and they are ahead in this series because they have attacked him defensively,” Windhorst said.

The Mavericks star is back with all the complaints

Luka Doncic is a transcendent talent, at least on the offensive end, and no one can ever dispute that. However, throughout his career, he has been easily frustrated by things beyond his control. The Mavericks star is arguably the biggest complainer in the league, and it can be seen in his body language once things, particularly the officiating, spiral against his favor.

Brian Windhorst also called out the Mavericks star for this, and he's right; in the grandest stage, Doncic has to focus on what he can control and let the chips fall where they may instead of allowing his frustrations with the officiating snowball into something that would end up costing his team. Doncic fouled out in Game 3 after he racked up four fouls in the fourth quarter, and only one of those fouls could have gone either way.

Even then, Doncic implored the Mavericks bench to challenge his sixth and final foul; while it is smart to try and do whatever it takes to keep their best player on the floor, the call stood no chance of being overturned. He was still moving when he put himself in front of Jaylen Brown, which is the textbook definition of a blocking foul. He should not have put himself in that position in the first place, but it was apparent that frustrations got the better out of him in a must-win game.

“You have a situation where Luka is complaining about the officiating. They have begged him… He's costing his team because of how he treats the officials. He's a brilliant player, he does so many things well, they're here because of how he did. His performance in this game was unacceptable and the reason why the Mavericks won't win,” Windhorst added.

While the Mavericks stand no chance of winning without Luka Doncic, this version of the Slovenian superstar simply is not good enough to power Dallas against the deeper and better Celtics team. There is a higher level for Doncic to ascend to, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to raise his game to the level that was necessary to win a championship. But there is no better teacher than failure, so Brian Windhorst hopes that Doncic can learn from his shortcomings and rectify them moving forward.

“If Luka is ever gonna be a winner coming out of the tunnel, he's gonna have to use what's happened in these NBA Finals as a learning experience,” Windhorst said.