WATCH: Bloodied Luka Doncic Refs Complaint - Mavs Are 'Playing 5-on-8'
DALLAS - Luka Doncic admitted earlier this season that despite his "passion for winning,'' when it comes to dealing with NBA referees, he's got to "learn to calm myself down and go to the next play."
But then you get hit in the mouth - literally and figuratively in Sunday's 112-109 collapse against the Indiana Pacers at the AAC (game story here) - and your bloodied mouth gets in the way of your education.
Doncic's battle with the officials reached the first of its three peaks during the game, when a collision with Victor Oladipo resulted in Luka's sustaining a cut that caused bleeding from his mouth.
“He can’t f---ing hit me in the mouth!” Doncic shouted at the officials.
It continued when DallasBasketball.com's Matthew Postins captured video of Doncic's locker-room walk through the postgame tunnel when Luka muttered that the Mavs were "playing five against eight (five opponents and three refs) every game now.''
And it continued some more when Doncic met the media in the Mavs locker room, the 21-year-old All-Star saying, “I got hit in the face. That should be a foul. They should look at it. I think the rule is when you get hit in the face they look at it to see if it’s flagrant or not, right? I got hit in the face three times. Two of them was not a foul.”
Doncic said he took a knee to the jaw in the game, a blow that actually required a medical examination.
"One was a knee to the face, then they didn’t review any of it,'' Luka said. "“I got an X-ray during halftime but it was OK.''
The Mavs have engaged in some contentious behavior recently involving the NBA officials, most recently owner Mark Cuban getting his $500,000 worth. On Sunday, coach Rick Carlisle opted for a slightly elevated road, noting that the Pacers played Doncic (and Kristaps Porzingis, who managed to shoot 3-for-17 for nine points) "physically.''
There is no denying that 39-26 Dallas played poorly down the stretch here, getting outscored 8-0 to close, missing free throws and orchestrating poor possessions. Luka Doncic (good for a 36-10-8 line that wasn't quite enough) and his frustration is partly due to that ... and in his defense - finable though his comments might be - his frustration is likely partly also due to the fact that his remarks are stained by his own blood.
