Luka Doncic Calls Out Devin Booker After Heated Altercation in Tough Mavs Loss

Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns.

The Dallas Mavericks are at a crucial point in their season where every game matters. If they want to put themselves in the best possible position come playoff time, they need to finish strong. Unfortunately, they dropped their Sunday afternoon game against the Phoenix Suns – a playoff for in the West.

At the end of the game, which came down to the wire, Luka Doncic and Suns star Devin Booker got into a scuffle. They went chest-to-chest and picked up double technicals. After the contest, Doncic spoke about the incident, calling out Booker in the process.

“It’s fine. It’s just a competitive game, man. It’s all good. Just, next time, don’t wait until there are three seconds left to talk, Doncic said via Landon Thomas of Mavs Fans For Life.

Luka Dončić said Devin Booker was talking to him before the scuffle and he said he can’t repeat say what Booker said to him or he will be fined.

He continued to say: “Next time don’t wait til three seconds left to talk.” pic.twitter.com/jqf489h5OO

— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) March 5, 2023

Phoenix ended up picking up the victory by a score of 130-126, as Kevin Durant nailed a clutch shot in the final minute of the game. Both Doncic and Booker put up impressive stats in the contest.

Doncic ended the night with a team-high 34 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. He shot 8-of-23 from the floor and 1-of-9 from beyond the three-point arc.

As for Booker, he put up 36 points, five boards, and 10 assists on 15-of-25 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from distance.

Devin Booker Sounds Off on Luka Doncic Altercation

In addition to Doncic’s thoughts, Booker also had something to say about the altercation after the game. He called out the media, noting that everyone hates it when players are friendly.

“I’m not here to tattletale. I mean, I was talking to the ref,” Booker said via WFAA’s Cameron Cox. “He said something to me first and I responded. You guys (media) say you don’t want everyone to be friendly, there you go.”

On top of that, Booker also had a message directly for Doncic. He explained that while he doesn’t have a problem with the Mavericks star off the court, when they’re on the court, they’re competitors.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s just two competitors going at it,” Booker said. “Like I just said, everyone speaks on how friendly the NBA is now, and they don’t like that. I have no problem with Luka, on or off the court. But, when we’re competing, we’re competing.”

Kyrie Irving Discusses Mavs Win Over 76ers

In other news, the Mavericks recently picked up a huge win over the Philadelphia 76ers in which Kyrie Irving and Doncic both scored 40 or more points. It marked the first time two Dallas teammates have put up at least 40 in the same game. After the contest, Irving gave his teammates the credit for his success.

“I just embraced my teammates,” Irving said via House of Highlights. “It was a hard-fought game. And we did everything to make sure we were poised down the stretch. We’re just paying attention to the game plan. There’s been a few losses over last week where we felt like they were very winnable games, and it came down to the [final] stretch. You know, three points, four points, two points. So, it was definitely a different approach tonight for us as a team because we really wanted this. I really wanted this. But I think, like I said, the last time I was sitting up here, I just had to join the party. You know, and just make sure my teammates were going to follow along. And Luka was ready for the party, I was ready for the party tonight. And it was one of those games where we had some special performances, and I’m just grateful that the work translated because it could have gone either way. We could either kind of lay down and just let things happen and kind of blame it on the refs or blame it on other things, but sitting up here every single night and not having excuses. It’s knowing we just got to respond and do what’s necessary to win ball games. So, it felt good.”

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