Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic animatedly expressed his dismay that coach Rick Carlisle did not use the team’s final timeout during a critical possession in the last minute of a 112-109 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.
The possession, which came two points behind the Mavs, ended with Kristaps Porzingis missing a contested 3-pointer with 10.4 seconds to go. After the Mavs made a mistake a few seconds later, Doncic angrily gestured at the Dallas bench and repeatedly formed a T with his hands to indicate that a timeout should have been given.
On the previous ball possession Doncic created an open look at a 3 for Trey Burke by passing from a double team. Burke missed, but center Willie Cauley-Stein grabbed the offensive rebound with 17.7 seconds to go. Doncic didn’t hit the ball for the rest of possession, as Cauley-Stein handed the ball over to Burke, who drove the baseline under the basket and passed Porzingis on the right wing.
“It’s the coach’s decision, but if we made the shot, everything would be fine,” said Doncic, who had 29 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists in the loss, accounting for 61 of the Mavs’ 81 points. when he hit the floor. “… But I don’t know. It’s the coach’s decision to call a time-out or not, so I think it’s okay.”
Doncic said he had not yet discussed the situation with Carlisle and declined to say whether he intended to have that conversation with his coach.
“When we talk, we’re going to talk,” said Doncic. ‘It doesn’t get into the media. It’s between us. ‘
Carlisle said he would “not go into that in public” if asked to discuss the situation with Doncic. Carlisle did not regret his decision not to allow time out for possession, noting how difficult it is to score against the Bucks defense when Milwaukee gets a chance to get a set.
“Look, we took two good shots and we kept a timeout,” Carlisle said. “As a coach, that’s all you can hope for in that situation.”
The missed three, who didn’t catch iron and carom off the board on the other side of the rim, underscored a poor shooting performance for Porzingis in his second game of the season after recovering from an off-season right knee surgery. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-19 shots (2-of-7 from 3-point range) in 29 minutes.
“There are things I could have done much better, and that could have changed a lot in this match,” said Porzingis, who felt he was rushing his last shot. “I want to take a lot of responsibility for this.”
Porzingis said he should be “calmer” out there, acknowledging that he has sometimes been too aggressive to find his rhythm.
“There has to be a balance,” said Porzingis. “You want to be aggressive, but you want to be aggressive in situations and positions that you’re comfortable with. You don’t always want to look for them.”
Carlisle expressed confidence that Porzingis would find that balance when he gets back on his feet after missing the first nine games of the season.
“Put yourself in his shoes,” Carlisle said. “The man desperately wants to help the team. If he wasn’t aggressive I would be a lot more concerned.”