Doncic cheers Mavs comeback: “The energy was insane”

Luka Doncic hit 26 points, 13 rebounds and was just was one assist shy of a triple-double as the Mavs staged their comeback with a 103-94 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. A 20,000-strong crowd at American Airlines Center pushed pushed Dallas to victory to make it 2-1 going into Game 4.

“The energy was insane. This crowd gets us going - the crowd was amazing for the whole game. But the energy and the execution was better. We trusted ourselves, and that’s what we’ve got to do in every game,” said Doncic, who freely admitted he was below par in the second half of Game 2, contributing just 11 points. “I knew I had to do better. I was really poor in the second half, I knew I could do better. I think I’ve made a big jump this year. My second half was horrible. I knew I had to get back to my team and play better defense”.

Doncic heaped praise on Reggie Bullock, who kept Chris Paul quiet despite playing with a rib injury, and Dorian Finney-Smith, the heart and soul of the team’s defense:  “We did a great job. Reggie [Bullock] and Doe-Doe [Finney-Smith] - those guys are incredible all year on the defense end. Today, they showed once again that they’re doing an amazing job and they are leaders in defense. We go as they go on defense, and they’ve been amazing the whole year,” Doncic said.

The Mavs return to the at the American Airlines Center for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, looking to level the series. Doncic insists that finding motivation has never been an issue and the team will be giving it everything they’ve got to win the series. “We consider every game as one we must win, especially in playoffs but we are going to believe right until the end. Somebody’s got to get to four wins and it doesn’t matter whether you are down or up, you’ve got to believe always,” he concluded.