Mavs Star Luka Doncic on Game 1 Loss: ‘I Got To Be Better, That’s Not Me’
It wasn’t the ideal start Wednesday night to the Western Conference finals for the Dallas Mavericks, who fell 112-87 to the Golden State Warriors. A scratched-up Luka Doncic had a lackluster night consisting of 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
After the game, Doncic admitted that it wasn’t his best performance:
“Yeah, they were doing a great job on me, especially in the second half," he said. "But I think I've got to be better. That's on me. As a leader I've got to be better for the whole group, so that's on me.”
The Splash Brothers led the way for the Warriors, with Stephen Curry (21 points and 12 rebounds) and Klay Thompson (15 points) making key contributions. Andrew Wiggins also scored 19 and helped keep Doncic in check.
“Just make him work, that was the main thing,” Wiggins said.
Harry How/Getty Images
Harry How/Getty Images
As for the Mavs’ role players, Jalen Brunson had 14 points but missed all five 3-point attempts, adding to a rough shooting night for the team (31-86 from the field).
Spencer Dinwiddie added 17 from the bench.
Now let's hear the Mavs talk:
Doncic on the shot selection of his team:
"But I think the whole team, we didn't shoot the ball great. We were 22% from three. I think we have got to attack the paint more. We settled for threes a lot today, so we've got to attack the paint more."
Doncic on the team’s mentality:
“After Game 1 -- we've got to learn from there. Game 2 was the same as Game 1, so we've got to learn from that and we've got to come out and play harder and play better.”
Doncic on his scratch:
“It's good. Makes me look tough.”
Jason Kidd on what went wrong:
“When you shoot 48 3s, we've got to make some, and we just didn't make them.”
Kidd on finding a way back into the series:
“We've always found a way to answer, so we don't have to look too far but at ourselves of how we've gotten better. We've lost two games in a row on the road and found a way to get back in the series. We've lost the first game and gotten back into the series.”
Harry How/Getty Images
Harry How/Getty Images
Harry How/Getty Images
Spencer Dinwiddie on putting things in perspective:
“I mean, we were 11-for-48 from 3 and maybe eight of those are bad, right. So that means you've got 40 good looks at three, you at least want to hit 15, 16 of them. Five more 3s, 15 more points. You know, during the course of the game we were down about 20, which puts you in the game.”
Doncic and the Mavs will look to bounce back and even the series against the Warriors on Friday night.
