Regardless of what outsiders may think the Mavericks should do in their final three games, Luka Dončić will not give up on this season.
The superstar point guard made it clear on Tuesday that he will be doing everything he can to help the Mavericks win their remaining games and try to pull off a longshot bid to reach the postseason.
When he was specifically asked about shutting down for the final week of the season, he couldn’t have been more direct.
“No, I’m playing tomorrow (against Sacramento),” he said. “When there’s still a chance, I’m going to play. So, that’s not going to happen yet.”
The Mavericks have gone through hard times in the past month and have lost seven of their last eight games to slip to 11th in the Western Conference standings. Teams finishing seventh through 10th will be in the play-in tournament to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in the playoffs.
The Mavericks must win two more games than the 10th-place Oklahoma City Thunder to get into the play-in.
“There’s little chance,” Dončić said. “We all know that. But, like I said, as long as there’s a chance, I’ll play.”
The fifth-year Slovenian touched on a variety of subjects Tuesday after practice. They have games left against the Kings, the Chicago Bulls on Friday and the San Antonio Spurs in the regular-season finale on Sunday.
Dončić said it was not a big discussion with the coaching staff when it came to whether he would play until the season is officially done.
“I think they knew that I wouldn’t want to do it,” he said of sitting out. “They know me like that.”
That said, he had no problem acknowledging the obvious.
“It’s disappointing, obviously, being in the conference finals last year to be trying to get into the play-in, it’s a very disappointing season, I think, Dončić said. “After All-Star, I think we were, like, fourth in the West. I think it was pretty good. Since then, things (went) a little downhill. There’s plenty of reasons, but we’re still trying to get in.”
Given that the team has gone 6-13 since the All-Star break, it’s easy to see why speculation was persistent that they put Dončić and Kyrie Irving on the shelf for the final three games of the season. That clearly would make winning harder and with the Mavericks owning their 2023 first-round draft pick only if it is among the top-10 picks, dropping further in the standings would improve their chances of keeping that pick.
But for Luka, there was no decision to make. He doesn’t have answers for why the Mavericks’ season got to this point. But he knows where he would point a finger. When he asked how much of this is his fault, he said:
“A lot. I’m the leader of this team. The one to blame is me.”
As for why, it may be a combination of things, including a high number of minutes played and a basketball schedule that has essentially been year-round because of his commitments to the Slovenian national team.
“I’ve been playing basketball for three straight years,” he said. “Four weeks home in between was free. Sometimes it’s really hard for me to play really hard on both ends. But obviously the defensive end, I got to be way better.
“I was playing a lot of minutes. But that’s not an excuse. I’m still young, age-wise. But it’s a lot of basketball. I got to be way better.”
Last season, the Mavericks were under .500 through the holidays. Then they galvanized as a group and rolled through the second half of the season and into the playoffs, reaching the Western Conference finals.
Now, they look like a shell of that team. Are they still a confident group?
“Not right now,” he said. “You can see where we are, (1-7) in the last games. So you don’t see the chemistry we had before, especially last year. The chemistry was at the top. Chemistry builds and not right away. It’s a long process.
“I don’t think offense is the problem. It’s our defensive end. Anybody can score on us, whoever it is. Anybody can score on us.”
Losing Jalen Brunson certainly didn’t help this team. He provided glue, not to mention strong numbers in the playoffs.
But this year’s team simply has been different. And there’s only one way to try to salvage things this week.
“I always say: win games,” Dončić said. “Sounds easy. But it’s not. There’s a lot of talent in the NBA. Every team is trying to win. It’s hard to win.
“I’ll say it again. As long as there’s a chance, I’m going to believe. That’s me.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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