(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Dallas Mavericks live to see another day as they managed to blow out the Boston Celtics on the home floor in Game 4 to force a Game 5.
Dallas had the look of a team that was desperate for a win as they jumped out to double-digit lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
The Mavericks played with as much force and energy as they have throughout the 2024 NBA playoffs and they were led by Luka Doncic, who scored a game-high 29 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.
Doncic was heavily criticized for his Game 3 behavior where he fouled out and cost Dallas a chance at a comeback to make it a 2-1 series.
However, the superstar guard made up for it Game 4 and will be counted on to do the same when the team hits the road for Game 5.
Doncic has been spectacular in his first Finals appearance and is surprisingly leading all players in plus-minus, via StatMuse.
Highest +/- this Finals:
+26 — Luka Doncic
+25 — Kristaps Porzingis
+22 — Dante Exum
+17 — Dwight Powell pic.twitter.com/Fll8g0hKVZ
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 15, 2024
Plus-minus isn’t the most reliable stat to measure a player’s performance, but in this case it’s impressive that Doncic leads everyone in the series despite his team being down 3-1 in the series.
However, it makes more sense once you consider that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have much more help from their supporting cast than Doncic does.
Regardless, the Mavericks and Doncic must know that they need their star to be at his absolute peak to win against the Celtics and it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it up in Game 5.
The post Luka Doncic Leads A Surprising Stat In NBA Finals appeared first on The Cold Wire.