"Maybe if he didn't take 26 shots others would score" "1 assist lmao" - NBA fans roast Luka Doncic as Boston holds him to playoff career-low in dimes

The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Boston Celtics 89-107 in Game 1 of the NBA finals at TD Garden. Despite averaging 107.9 points in the season, the Mavs delivered their worst offensive showing of the playoffs, falling well below their usual offensive potential.

One illuminating stat making the rounds on X is their season-low in assists. Dallas only managed to record nine assists on 35 made field goals, well below their previous season-low of 14. Fans were quick to take to social media and blame superstar Luka Doncic, who finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds but only managed to get one assist.

The Celtics' strategy to not double worked like a charm, as no other Maverick recorded more than 14 points.

Replying to Chris Mannix's X post, several fans went in on Luka Doncic.

One fan noted his 12 of 26 from the field and said:

"Maybe if he didn’t take 26 shots others would score more."

"Only 1 assist, lol," added another.

One commenter criticized Luka Doncic for being 'selfish' amidst his Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving's shooting woes. Irving scored only 12 points and three rebounds with two assists in 36 minutes of play.

"It helps when your primary ball handler actually moves the ball and helps the team get into an offensive flow. He's going to get praised on every network tomorrow but I thought he played an extremely selfish game tonight."

The Mavericks had a terrible night shooting open threes, which exacerbated their problems.

"They missed an insane amount of wide open threes. I can think of at least 3 by Washington 2 by Kyrie. One by Luka. 2 by jones. Off the top of my head," one user pointed out.

"They will. They've had open shots all night and missed them," another fan opined.

Kyrie Irving was left wanting in nearly all offensive facets and needs to adjust to the Celtics' defense if the Mavericks are to win this series, as another commenter pointed out.

"Well, Kyrie can’t possibly play worse. If he does, or doesn’t step it up from this, they are toast.”

Why Luka Doncic’s assist issue could be a problem for the Mavericks

Luka Doncic has averaged 8.4 assists per game in the 2024 playoffs, third only behind LeBron James (8.8) and Nikola Jokic (8.7). His chemistry with his two rim-running bigs, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, has yielded in 54 Alley-Oop dunks before this game, the most in the playoffs by a wide margin.

Since Boston has enough skilled perimeter defenders to switch on Luka and Kyrie, Dallas can expect this to continue in Game 2 as well. The Mavericks will have to be much better with their outside shooting to stand a chance in this series.

Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals will be held on Sunday night in Boston.