Luka Doncic had a cheeky response to Charles Barkley’s incorrect prediction
The Mavs star hit back at the former NBA tough guy, letting him know in a tongue-in-cheek way that his predictions will always be welcome given the results.
It’s been quite the tussle between the Mavericks and the Thunder, but as things stand the Mavs can wrap things up on Saturday, something Charles Barkley didn’t see coming, while Luka Doncic did and Dallas’ star was quick to make that known.
Luka Doncic had the perfect response to Charles Barkley
On Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks took a huge step toward securing a spot in the Western Conference finals. Indeed, following what can only be described as a tit-for-tat series in which both teams have exchanged the lead, the Mavs now stand with a 3-2 lead after a huge win on the road in Game 5. As you can probably guess, a large amount of that came down to Luka Doncic who once again led the way with a triple-double to the tune of 31 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. To that end, Doncic and Co. can now close out the series at home with a win in Game 6 on Saturday night.
Yet, believe it or not, there were some who believed that they wouldn’t be here now and that brings us to former 76ers star and current NBA analyst Charles Barkley who predicted earlier that night that the Mavs would be blown out by the Thunder. Of course, Barkley who has always had a reputation of being a confrontational character also has a history of making incorrect predictions when it comes to the results of games, which is something that Doncic seized on when asked about the Hall of Famer’s take on how things would play out between the Mavs and Thunder. You can see it below:
At this point, it would be unwise to make a prediction about what we can expect in Game 6. While the Mavericks will clearly be working with increased motivation following their win, and playing home, the reality is the Thunder have given as good as they’ve got in this series such that Wednesday’s 104-92 scoreline doesn’t paint the entire picture. Consider for a moment that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in the loss, a clear testament to the idea that the Mavs have struggled to contain him. This is to say that they are still in this fight. Perhaps if they can get Charles Barkley to predict a Mavericks victory this time, they just might win it.