After Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks lost 0-2 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, they received some valuable advice from two multiple NBA champions.
Warriors center Kevon Looney joined Draymond Green on the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” where the two discussed the adjustments Dallas must make in Game 3 Wednesday at the American Airlines Center to get into the scoring column. victories.
“I feel like it’s more on the offensive side than the defensive side,” Looney said. “Boston doesn’t get 100-something points, they don’t shoot the 3 very well, they make it difficult for (Celtics star Jayson) Tatum, he doesn’t look easy. But offensively, Luka was very aggressive in the first quarter, I feel like he needs to get the guys more involved in his role in the first half, I know as a role player, in that first quarter, if you don’t get a layup or a dunk or something to get you going, you get a little tense and later in the game you won’t shoot the ball as well, it seems like Things won’t go the way you want if you don’t get off to a good start.
“In the first game, they didn’t get off to a good start as a team. (In Game 2), Luka came out and made sure they got off to a better start. He was really aggressive and he made it, but I don’t know if PJ (Washington) made it or Derrick (Jones Jr.), if they had that confidence shooting that 3, or (Maxi) Kleber, I think it did. It’s more on the offensive side, they have to figure out what pace they want to play at so Luka can really control the game. I don’t think they’ve really found the pace that suits them.
The Mavericks – who ranked third in 3-pointers made during the 2023-24 regular season – shot just 6 of 26 (23.1%) from downtown in their loss in the second match on Sunday. Their eight missed free throws (66.7 percent to the Celtics’ 95 percent) certainly didn’t help their cause either, falling to a 7-point loss.
Dončić’s triple-double wasn’t enough for Dallas to even the series with one win apiece. He finished with 32 points on 12 of 21 shooting from the field and 4 of 9 from deep, with 11 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals in 42 minutes. He had double the Mavericks’ next leading scorer, Kyrie Irving with 16 points.
Green doubled down on Looney’s suggested adjustments for Dallas, saying the Mavericks’ offense had “hurt their defense.”
And for Irving, who is averaging just 14 points on 35.1 percent shooting from the field and has missed all eight of his attempts from beyond the arc in the first two games of the series, Green thinks the eight-time All-Star guard is getting to his spots but his shots just aren’t falling.
In a game of success and failure, the NBA is also a game of adjustment. And the Mavericks can take notes from the champion Warriors ahead of a crucial third game on their home court.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk podcast
