Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic animatedly expressed dismay that coach Rick Carlisle did not use the team’s last timeout during a critical last-minute possession of a 112-109 loss on Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.
Possession, which occurred with the two-point Mavs, ended with Kristaps Porzingis mistakenly missing a contested 3-pointer with 10.4 seconds left. After the Mavs made a mistake a few seconds later, Doncic made an angry signal to the Dallas bench, repeatedly forming a T with his hands to indicate that a timeout should have been called.
In the previous possession, Doncic created an open look at a 3 for Trey Burke, moving from a double team. Burke missed, but center Willie Cauley-Stein took the offensive turn with the remaining 17.7 seconds. Doncic did not touch the ball in the rest of the possession, while Cauley-Stein gave it to Burke, who led the baseline under the basket and passed to Porzingis on the right wing.
“It’s the coach’s decision, but if we had made the shot, everything would be fine,” said Doncic, who had 29 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists in losses, representing 61 of Mavs’ 81 points on the floor . “… But I don’t know. It’s the coach’s decision to call a timeout 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.
“If we talk, we will talk,” Doncic said. “It won’t be in the media. It’s between us.”
Carlisle said he would “not go public” when asked about discussing the situation with Doncic. Carlisle did not express his regret for his decision not to request a timeout for possession, noting how difficult it is to score against Bucks’ defense if Milwaukee has a chance to settle.
“Look, I got two good photos and kept a timeout,” Carlisle said. “As a coach, that’s all you can hope for in that situation.”
The missed 3, who did not catch iron and burst from the board on the other side of the rim, scored a poor shooting performance for Porzingis in the second game of the season, after recovering from surgery outside season on the right knee. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting (2-of-7 from 3 points) in 29 minutes.
“There are things I could have done much better and that could have changed a lot in this game,” said Porzingis, who felt he hurried his final shot. “I want to take great responsibility for this.”
Porzingis said he needed to be “calmer” there, acknowledging that he was sometimes too aggressive as he tried to find his rhythm.
“There has to be a balance,” Porzingis said. “You want to be aggressive, but you want to be aggressive in situations and positions that you feel comfortable with. You don’t want to always look for him.”
Carlisle expressed confidence that Porzingis will find that balance as he gets to his feet after missing the first nine games of the season.
“Put yourself in his shoes,” Carlisle said. “The guy desperately wants to help the team. If he weren’t aggressive, I would be more concerned.”