Mavs Talk: ‘Bad Defense, That's It’ - Luka Doncic After Game 2 Loss

After blowing a 19-point lead, Luka Doncic attributes the 126-117 Game 2 loss against the Warriors to “bad defense, that’s it.”

The Mavs got off a hot start in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Friday — leading by as many as 19 points in the first half — but let it slip away, falling 126-117 to the Golden State Warriors.

While Mavericks star Luka Doncic played well (42 points and eight assists), his performance wasn’t quite enough to hold off the Warriors’ momentum in the third quarter.

“Bad defense, that's it. We got to concentrate on our defense in games. Our defense got to improve a lot,” said Doncic.

Stephen Curry, who had 32 points and eight rebounds, declared ‘night night’ as a three-pointer went through the net in the final minutes.

“We have that attitude and spirit that we’re never out of it”, said Curry after the game.

Getty Images

Getty Images

Getty Images

Along with Doncic, Brunson had himself quite the night, scoring 31 points along with seven rebounds.

Now let's hear the Mavs talk:

Doncic on being sick the night before:

It was more last night, I was a little bit sick. Nothing serious. The shoulder we got treatment on, so it's fine. It's all good.

Doncic on the team’s shot selection:

“I think we relied too much on the three. We weren't attacking the paint that much. But we got to attack the paint more, like they did. They attacked the paint a lot. They have two of the best shooters in the world, and they still attack the paint.”

Doncic on the team’s mentality:

“We were up 20 or 19, so it's a tough situation. We can't look back. What happened happened, so we've got to move on.”

Jason Kidd on what went wrong:

“We play defense when we play offense, and we play no defense when we can't score. That's something that we have to get better at this time of the year.”

Kidd on finding a way back into the series:

“We've just got to do a better job closing out and rebounding. That's it. We've got to be more physical, and we've got to close out better and rebound the ball.”

Kidd on shooting struggles:

But when you go 2-for-13 and you rely on the three, you can die by the three, and we died in the third quarter by shooting that many threes and coming up with only two.

Brunson on third quarter:

“They had a great run in the third quarter, great third quarter team. They just made a run, and we just let the run go on for too long.”

Back home in Dallas, Donic and the Mavs will strive to bounce back and get back in the series. They are 5-1 at American Airlines Center this postseason.