So far the 2024 NBA Finals have gone pretty much as expected, with the Boston Celtics picking up two home court victories to start the series. The Dallas Mavericks return to American Airlines Center for Game 3 on Wednesday knowing that they need a win to boost their championship ambitions.
Key to their prospects is the fitness of Luka Doncic. The Slovenian superstar has top-scored for the Mavs in both Finals games so far – breaking 30 points in each – but was a doubt ahead of Game 2 with a thoracic contusion.
He played through the chest injury in Boston and was asked about the status of his fitness status after the game: “I always want to play, so all day we did a lot of things to get it ready for the game,” he explained, adding: “I was good, I felt ok.”
After making it through Game 2 unscathed Doncic looks set to feature again on Wednesday, a major boost for the Mavericks as they look to mount a comeback.
Luka Doncic stats show elite performance
The 2024 Finals have been billed as a meeting of a supreme team, Boston, and the incredible individual talents of Luka Doncic. Things have not gone to plan for the Mavericks so far but no one can doubt Doncic’s offensive stats in a losing team.
In the history of the NBA, only Michael Jordan boasts a better playoff points per game (PPG) average than Doncic. In fact, Jordan (33.4 PPG) and Doncic (31.1 PPG) are the only two players to have a post-season average of more than 30 points.
Doncic has now played 47 playoff games in the NBA and his playmaking talents are just as impressive. Of the ten players with the highest post-season PPG, Doncic is the only one to record more than eight assists per game.
But speaking after the game Doncic insisted that he takes responsibility for the Game 2 loss: “At the end of the day we’ve gotta make more shots. I think my missed free throws and my missed shots cost us the game, so I’ve gotta do way better in those two categories. We’ve gotta make more shots to win the game.”