Luka on missed game-winning three: ‘I was disappointed when I saw that the shot did not end up falling down’
Goforitradio Staff
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There was a duel in Dallas on Sunday night between Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard. Doncic had more points, but Lillard made the biggest shot.
Late in the fourth, with the game tied at 116, Lillard made a step-back three that put the Blazers up by 3. Dallas had a chance to tie the game, but Doncic’s three-point shot rimmed out, and the Blazers snapped the Mavericks’ four-game losing streak and escaped with a 121-118 road victory.
“Our intention was to run and get the ball out of his hands,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said about Lillard. “We’d gone through that in our prep. Part of it’s the mask, and part of it’s the noise in the arena or whatever. The communication didn’t get there, and he hit a difficult shot, but it’s a shot he makes regularly. It’s a tough shot.”
Lillard led the Blazers with 34 points, 11 assists, and three rebounds. Doncic finished with 44 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Doncic now has the most points by a player in consecutive games in franchise history with 90 points in his last two games (46 on Friday), but after the game, he was upset with himself for missing that game-tying three.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m confident or not,” Doncic said. “If the shot doesn’t go in, that’s what matters. I was disappointed when I saw that the shot did not end up falling down at the end.”
Doncic is playing very well right now for Dallas and has hit a nice groove. However, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle wants to do more to lighten Doncic’s load going forward.
“He’s got a great rhythm,” Carlisle said about Doncic. “He’s shooting the ball tremendously well. Of course, I’m concerned that the load he’s carrying is a difficult load to carry on a game-to-game basis. I’ve got to try to get some more balance in our attack. It’s just a lot to ask of Luka to put together 40-point stat-stuffer nights on a night-in, night-out basis. I feel like we’ve got to do some things to get other guys helping with carrying that load.”
The Mavericks finish up their seven-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Pistons.
