DALLAS β It was do or die for the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. And through strong performances from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, they were able to keep their NBA Finals series with the Boston Celtics alive.
While Friday night may have offered Mavs fans a reason to smile and celebrate, it hasn't been that way for the majority of the series. Especially in Game 3, when the Mavs mounted a large comeback in the fourth quarter, only for Doncic to foul out in the final minutes of the game.
This, sort of "throw caution to the wind" attitude by Doncic, was met with a lot of criticism as many also pointed to his frequent complaining to the refs as a sign of immaturity in the 25-year-old star.
Doncic was fortunately able to effectively tune out this criticism as he put up 29 points before getting pulled out of the Mavs 122-84 blowout win in Game 4.
Mavs Head Coach Jason Kidd stood by Doncic after the win, telling media that this was the same Luka and nothing has changed, despite what the headlines may read.
"I thought he was great -- he's been great. Some would say differently, but he's averaging over 25 [points] in this series I think and he's playing at a very high level," Kidd said in postgame press conference.
Throughout the series, Doncic's defensive effort has come into question for many. However, Kidd was sure to shut that down as well.
"He's been doing everything for us on the offensive end and the defensive end and I thought he played his game tonight," Kidd stated. He didn't force anything -- I thought his rebounding and being able to let other guys -- you know with the pace -- we talked about it. We got to play faster and I thought he set the pace for us tonight."
If Doncic's performance wasn't a good enough reminder, Kidd made sure to remind the media after the game that he is still an amazing player, despite any below-average performances.
"He was great. He's been great. He's one of the best players in the world and as much as we want to criticize, he's a hell of a player," Kidd stated.
So, now the Mavs shift their attention to Game 5, where they will travel back to Boston and fight for yet another opportunity to extend the series.
You can watch Game 5 on Monday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m. on WFAA (ABC).
Watch Kidd's full postgame press conference below: