Talented but not a winner
His numbers and accomplishments back him up: 33.8 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game and 8.0 assists per game in his NBA career, in addition to being the 2019 Rookie of the Year and a three-time All-Star.
But also everyone in the NBA might agree that Luka, so far, is not a winner in the league.
Luka’s Mavs failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2019, and the next two seasons they were eliminated in the first round.
Now, they are one loss away from being eliminated again in the NBA playoffs, now by the Phoenix Suns.
Doncic is this century’s version of the Michael Jordan of the 1980s: A very talented player but not a winner?
Is Luka Doncic a winning player?
Whoever says no, never saw a Real Madrid Basket game in Luka Doncic’s short, but spectacular career in the ACB and Euroleague. There he won it all as a ‘kid’. Now, has the Slovenian proven to be a winner in the NBA? The answer to that is no.
His fault? Neither. Hardly Dallas Mavericks are now playing their best basketball since Doncic came to the team. And they’re doing it with Jalen Brunson as their second star. Clearly, on paper, an inferior team to, for example, their conference semis opponent, the Phoenix Suns, with Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton.
But even Booker himself had to go through that. The debate is that, Ayton (Doncic’s number one draft pick) and others like Trae Young have theoretically made it further in the postseason. But I don’t think that should be an argument. Ayton is the third piece on his team, while Luka is the undisputed superstar of the Mavs. Young, meanwhile, knocked off the then-surprising New York Knicks last season, as well as the Philadelphia 76ers.
But Luka is currently battling not only the best team in the West, but in the entire NBA. Luka is a winner. But he has to, like Michael Jordan in his day, rely more on his teammates in crunch time. Once he climbs that step, he will have figured it all out.(Jose E. Bartolomei).
Fact or fiction: The winner of the Mavs-Suns series will make it to the Finals.
Fiction. The way the semifinals have been going, I think the winner of the Dallas Mavericks-Phoenix Suns series will have to face the Golden State Warriors in the West Finals and that’s as far as it will go, as San Francisco has shown itself to be a team not only ready to win the West Finals, but to win the championship.
I think the Suns will eliminate the Mavs, but once they face coach Kerr’s team, their dream of winning the NBA title will be cut short for the second consecutive season. That said, the West Finals between Suns and Warriors will be one of the most attractive in recent years and will surely go to seven games.
Which team will win the series?
The 30-point difference that Phoenix pulled out of Dallas in the pivotal Game 5 seems to make it clear which is the better team of the two. Although the Mavs have a chance to force a Game 7 at home, I don’t see it happening.
The reasons are simple: of the anemic 80 points they scored in the last meeting, 49 came courtesy of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson, while the remaining 9 players combined for 31. If they want to win the sixth, more than one will need to raise their scoring quota.
On the other hand, the Suns had 4 players scoring in double digits, plus they reached an overall efficiency of 49.4% with 37.5% in three pointers. And they also won the rebounding battle 50 to 38.
If one of these two teams can win an away game, it’s Phoenix. That’s why I imagine the series will end this Thursday.
