Mavericks star Luka Dončić blamed for defensive breakdown in loss to Jazz

On November 15, 2024By Littum

The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Utah Jazz, 115-113, on Thursday night to drop to 5-7 on the season. Just a year removed from reaching the NBA Finals, the Mavericks have looked like a shell of the team that came within striking distance of a championship.

Thursday night’s loss was especially frustrating for the Mavericks, as a late-game defensive breakdown between guard Quentin Grimes and star Luka Doncic led to an easy go-ahead basket for John Collins.

CLARKSON TO COLLINS FOR TOREN

Jazz up 2… 6.4 seconds left on NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/w04Ltwtk4E

— NBA (@NBA) 15 November 2024

NBA fans couldn’t believe how asleep Doncic was at contact. He took the blame for the collapse after the match.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Doncic said. “I thought I was going to hit and Grimes thought he was going to hit. And it was a lob, so we misread the bench. That’s on me.”

Luka takes the blame for Mavs loss to Jazz

“I misunderstood… it’s up to me” pic.twitter.com/74RoVHkm21

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) 15 November 2024

The Mavericks definitely need to do some soul searching to find the form they had a season ago.