The Dallas Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 134-132 on Saturday. What should have been a fairly boring outing between two middling Western Conference squads turned into an epic shootout between Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic.
Ultimately, the pair ultimately combined for 99 points on the night – 57 for Curry and 42 for Doncic.
After the fact, Curry gave his honest assessment of how his counterpart played.
One other person who got brutally honest about the night’s events? Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic asked Kerr specifically about the “lean-in” fouls that Doncic often finds himself on the right end of.
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The Warriors head coach had a fairly strong take on the subject.
“I don’t fault the officials,” Kerr replied.
“I fault the league for basically gifting those calls to all of our players. Our guys get them, too. To me, it’s not a basketball play. If you jump three feet forward, I don’t think you deserve a foul when all you’re doing is looking for a foul.
“I think the league has done a great job helping find a really good place for the offense players to shine, the athleticism to be on display for fans. But we’ve gotten out of control gifting offensive players the ability to deceive the refs or to grab, whatever, jump three or four feet into a guy and draw a foul.
“We have to give the defensive player some benefit of a doubt. But the officials have to call it because that’s the way the league dictates they call it. I have no problem with the officials.”
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
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Earlier this year, Steve Nash offered a similar criticism about the way Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks scored. It messed the youngster up for weeks.
Will Kerr’s words have a similar effect on Doncic? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
