Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic reacts after a play during the first half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball finals against the Boston Celtics. (AP Photo)
Luka Doncic, who has been widely criticised squarely for his performances in the first three games of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, managed to scored 29 points in the fourth game of the NBA Finals, thus preventing his team Dallas Mavericks from being swept (losing 0-4).
Inspired by his 25 points in the first half and the team’s other star, Kyrie Irving’s 21 points, the Mavericks extended the NBA season to at least one more game after emerging 122-84 triumphant over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Doncic’s first half performance meant that the Mavs were leading by 13 points after the first quarter. They doubled that lead to 26 points by half-time and then raced away to a 38-point gap some time in the third quarter. At some point in the final quarter, the Mavericks held a lead of 48 points. It was the sort of game that made fans wonder what had happened in the first three games to make the NBA Finals appear so lop-sided in favour of the Celtics.
As The Associated Press noted, the 38-point final margin was the third-biggest ever in an NBA Finals game, behind only Chicago beating Utah 96-54 in 1998 and the Celtics beating the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in 2008.
Game 5 is in Boston on Monday, which mean the franchise can get to seal the title in front of their home fans. The Celtics had come into Game 4 hoping that they could be the first team in NBA history to win both the conference finals and the finals in 4-0 sweeps. The defeat ends a streak that the Celtics had of 10 straight wins in the post-season. Should the Boston Celtics win the title, it will move them one title ahead of long-time arch-rivals from the West, the Los Angeles Lakers, at 18 titles (currently both teams have 17).
(With inputs from AP)
