NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 6, 2024

Luka Doncic

Dallas Mavericks

Game 1: Postgame

Boston Celtics 107, Dallas Mavericks 89

Q. Luka, only one assist for you, obviously extremely unusual. I don't think we've ever seen that before in a game you've played a lot of minutes in. What were they doing or what were you guys not doing that made the distribution part of game so difficult?

LUKA DONCIC: They mostly play one-on-one. They send a lot of help. So that's why.

Q. You've obviously been here before, down 0-1 in a series. What do you remember about the first round and the second round, what the next day was like for you guys, what did it look like? What did it feel like?

LUKA DONCIC: I don't remember. Just either you lose or you win. First to four, we've got to focus on the next game.

Q. Does that give you guys confidence, though?

LUKA DONCIC: Of course. You want me to say we have no confidence? (Smiling).

Q. I just want to hear you say it. It's good for our stories.

LUKA DONCIC: Of course.

Q. Obviously Kristaps had a really big first half. From what you remember playing with him, why was he so impactful out there just taking advantage of pretty much every matchup he had?

LUKA DONCIC: Yeah, he was great for them. He was knocking down shots. He was blocking shots. So he was really, really huge for them on both ends of the floor.

Q. What kind of problems does the Celtics five-out offense present for you guys on defense?

LUKA DONCIC: Their spacing is great and they have a lot of shooters. So I think we have to do a better job taking those threes away.

Q. For you guys as a team defensively, what needs to change? You guys have been so good throughout those playoffs. What was different tonight? What did they do to get you guys off your front foot?

LUKA DONCIC: Just like I said right now. We've got to take those threes away. That's what hurt us the most.

Q. You guys made a bit of a run at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter. What was working for you in that patch of time that didn't quite carry over to the entire game?

LUKA DONCIC: Just playing our basketball. I think in those moments, we were playing our basketball. We were getting stops. We didn't allow them to offensive rebound. We were having fun out there those couple moments, and that's what we've got to do more.

Q. You already played a lot of big games in Europe. How was it compared to that now the first Finals game for you, Game 1?

LUKA DONCIC: Obviously this is a bigger stage. But those games, Finals prepare you for this moment. We pass Game 1. We didn't do our job well. So we've got to focus on the second one.

Q. When you guys got a lot of great looks, especially Kyrie, just didn't make them. When you have a game like that after playing together for so long this season, all the ups and downs, do you say anything after a game like that? Is it kind of just, move on to the next? How do you approach that?

LUKA DONCIC: Just focus on the next game. I think we really got good shots. We just didn't make them. But we've got to go game by game. The Game 1 is over. We've got to watch film, what we did wrong, and focus only on the next one.

Q. We all know Boston makes a ton of threes. Is the challenge more to take that away or for you guys to have to make more to kind of keep up, knowing that they are going to make at least some?

LUKA DONCIC: I mean, obviously, I think they are the best three-point shooting team in the NBA, so sometimes really hard to take those away. Especially when they have five guys out and they can all shoot. Obviously, we've got to make more. We didn't make enough shots today to beat them. But we've got to be better on both ends.