Mavs' Luka Doncic Reveals Verbal Confrontation with Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin
DALLAS - Luka Doncic doesn't appreciate a frontrunner. Stemming from his beef with Phoenix Suns Devin Booker, the Dallas Mavericks superstar appreciates someone who talks throughout the game, not chirping when the game's over. Monday's 134-127 loss to the Indiana Pacers made for a frustrating contest. However, in the final period, Doncic's frustration peaked at Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin.
“He started talking (bleep), one minute to go," Doncic said. "You know what that’s about. I just said, you know, if you can talk (bleep), start it early. You know how I do.”
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Mathurin is a confident player, even before the Pacers beat the Mavs for the third consecutive meeting. The Pacers wing averaged 21.6 points on 51 percent from the field and percent from 3, and grabbed eight rebounds over their last three games this season.
Moreover, besides Mathurin's stats heading into the season, he had a better fourth quarter than Doncic.
For as frustrated as Mavs fans were to see their team down 18-5 in the first quarter, as thunderstorm warnings and terrible weather made for a horrible commute to the American Airlines for the 8:30 PM Central Time tip-off, Mathurin pushed Doncic's buttons like an unsupervised kid in an elevator.
Mathurin scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 1-2 from 3, grabbing four rebounds and one steal. Although Mathurin didn't talk throughout the fourth quarter, as Doncic prefers, he walked the Mavs to a loss.
Doncic's frustration may be warranted regarding his code of when to talk trash, but expressing it is futile if you didn't win, especially on Monday's fourth-quarter performance from No. 77. The 2024 Western Conference MVP shot an abysmal 42 percent on true shooting, and scored five points.
The Mavs lost to a 2-4 Pacers team at home and gave up 36 points in the first quarter. Doncic should be concerned with more pressing issues aside from standard trash-talking activities.
