DALLAS (AP) 鈥� Luka Doncic tried to set his feet just beyond the 3-point line as the Dallas Mavericks were making a furious comeback attempt.
The superstar in his first NBA Finals was defending Jaylen Brown when the Boston guard dribbled between his legs, ducked his shoulder and made contact that sent both players hard to the ground with 4:12 left in the game. , who sat on the floor in disbelief with both of his arms stretched up into the air.
It was Doncic's sixth foul of the game, his fourth in the fourth quarter, and his night was done after coach Jason Kidd's unsuccessful challenge of the call. The Mavericks also were pretty much done for the game 鈥� and maybe the series as well 鈥� after the on Wednesday night to go up 3-0 in the series.
鈥淵eah, we had a good chance. We were close. Just didn鈥檛 get it,鈥� Doncic said. 鈥淚 wish I was out there.鈥�
The Mavericks are now in a maybe impossible hole in these NBA Finals, after almost crawling all the way out of a big one before Doncic fouled out. They had a 22-2 run that began not long after his first foul of the quarter, and ended soon after he was sitting on the bench.
This is the 157th time a team has lost the first three games in a best-of-seven NBA playoff series. None of them has ever come back to win the series and only four have even forced a Game 7 鈥� and the only time that happened in the NBA Finals was in 1951 by the New York Knicks.
Doncic had 27 points despite going only 1 of 7 on 3-pointers before he fouled out for only the third time in his six NBA seasons 鈥� 400 regular-season games and 51 more in the playoffs. He had never had four fouls in the same quarter before his whistle-plagued 7 1/2-minute span.
鈥淚 mean, I don't know. We couldn鈥檛 play physical. I don鈥檛 know. I don鈥檛 want to say nothing,鈥� Doncic said.
鈥淵ou know, six fouls in the NBA Finals, basically I鈥檓 like this," he said, motioning with his palms held out. 鈥淐鈥檓on, man. Better than that.鈥�
Brown missed a 13-foot shot after the replay challenge, and the Mavericks 鈥� who had charged out to a 22-9 lead in the first 6:12 of the game 鈥� got a 17-foot jumper from Kyrie Irving to get within 93-92 with 3:37 left. That was the closest they got before Brown tipped in a miss by Jayson Tatum.
Doncic's sixth foul came only 26 seconds after his fifth, also a play involving Brown when it appeared the Celtics guard may have hooked Doncic.
鈥淵eah, it looked ... looks can be deceiving,鈥� Kidd said.
There was no challenge then, but Kidd certainly had to try on the next one in an effort to keep Doncic in the game.
鈥淚 was stuck. I had to challenge it,鈥� Kidd said. 鈥淗ad to challenge because it was a close call. But the referee called it a foul. Got to move on, move forward.鈥�
, and the Mavericks have to win just to send the series back to Boston.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not over till it鈥檚 over. We just got to believe. Like I always say, it鈥檚 first to four,鈥� Doncic said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to stay together. We lose together, we win together. So we got to stay together.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
