Mavs' Luka Doncic Reacts To Game-Winner Over Celtics
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks hold a 6-3 record with no shortage of ups and downs along the way. There may not be a higher 'high' than the team's 107-104 victory over the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
Facing a 104-104 tie with regulation winding down, Doncic drove hard down the left side of the floor to set up a stepback jumper from beyond the arc. He got the shot off against Josh Richardson — leaving no time left on the clock to give the Mavericks the victory at the buzzer.
Doncic is no stranger to making major plays in clutch moments. In fact, last season, he converted what ended up being a game-winning shot against the Celtics, too, but instead left 0.1 seconds left on the game clock.
“As a basketball player those are the best moments you can experience in your basketball career,” Doncic said. “There’s certain games that mean more, but hitting a game-winner is just one of the few things that’s the best in the world.
“I don’t know how I feel when I shoot the ball. I just want it to go in. I don’t know what I’m thinking about.”
The play was helped to be made possible by an inexplicable foul by Marcus Smart after an inbounds pass. As a result, the Mavericks had possession with the shot clock then turned off instead of a six-second differential between the two.
“Yeah, I was surprised, because if you don’t foul you (the Celtics) have the last shot,” Doncic said. “It was 10 seconds on the shot clock and 16 on the game clock, so I was really surprised.”
With the rest of the game clock to spare, Doncic knew it was about getting to his spot in time and getting a clean look off.
“I think it was a difficult shot,” Doncic said. “I had to stop for a second – I didn’t know it went in.
“I was just trying to get to my spot.”
