Brian Windhorst lambasted Luka Doncic’s performance in Wednesday’s Game 3 loss.
The Dallas Mavericks star fouled out with four minutes left, and the Boston Celtics preserved a 106-99 victory to gain a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. After the game, Windhorst minced no words criticizing Doncic on SportsCenter.
In a segment Scott Van Pelt described as a “blowtorch,” Windhorst said Doncic got fouled out on a “terrible” play. He thought Doncic turning to the Mavericks sideline to demand they challenge the call perfectly encapsulated his lack of accountability.
“I’m standing here in the Mavericks tunnel. Over there is the Celtics tunnel. That’s where the winners are,” Windhorst said. “If Luka’s ever going to be a winner coming out of this tunnel here, he’s going to have to use what’s happened in this Finals as a learning experience.”
Windhorst called Doncic a “hole on the court” and claimed the Celtics are winning because they’re exploiting his defensive limitations. He added that the Mavericks have “pleaded” with the 25-year-old to stop complaining to officials throughout the game, but Doncic criticized the referees in his post-game press conference.
“He’s a brilliant player. He does so many things well. They are here because of how he did,” Windhorst said. “His performance in this game is unacceptable and the reason why the Mavericks are not going to win. He’s got to get over this, and the fact that he came out after the game and blamed the officials showed me he’s nowhere close yet.”
Viewers applauded Windhorst’s passionate review.
“Windy nails it. As usual,” Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman responded. “Luka is an incredible talent. Needs to mature, be accountable and not be such a liability on the defensive end.
Refs aren’t gonna give him calls when he whines and complains as much as he does.”
“Windhorst preached the gospel last night,” a fan wrote.
“Outstanding and true commentary from Windhorst,” producer Scott Turken said. “Luka’s petulant behavior and victim mentality is terribly unbecoming.”
“Windhorst is good. One of the few in the media that will call out superstars,” a fan declared.
Windhorst concluded a fiery two minutes by saying Doncic “owes” the Mavericks a better performance in Game 4. Dallas will try to start a historic comeback on Friday night.
Related: Luka Doncic Whined About The Refs After Fouling Out Of Game 3