Luka Doncic under fire from NBA world for inexcusable blunder in embarrassing loss

The Dallas Mavericks have plummeted in the standings over the last week or so after dropping four straight games, and this is the last thing that Mavs fans expected after their productive offseason that included them signing Klay Thompson.

Dallas' most recent loss came at the hands of the Utah Jazz, and despite Luka Doncic dropping 37 points, the Mavs couldn't pull off the win. The Mavs gave up 16 offensive rebounds to Utah in the loss, and despite their rebounding problems, their defense in the second half was just as bad.

Doncic's defense was not great down the stretch, and he has been under intense fire over the last 24 hours due to a "miscommunication" at the end of the game that ended up leading to the loss.

NBA fans torch Doncic for costly lapse in clutch loss to Jazz

After Thompson had a clutch three to tie the game with 27.1 seconds remaining, it was time for the Mavs to buckle down on defense. The game was tied at 113, and a stop would lead to the Mavs having a chance to win the game. Utah ran the clock all the way down to about six seconds remaining, and Doncic and Quentin Grimes fell asleep, leading to a John Collins dunk. Utah took a 115-113 lead, and Dallas missed a corner three for the win from the corner.

"It was a misunderstanding," Doncic said. "I thought I was going to go hit, and Grimes thought he was going to go hit. And it was a lob, so we misunderstood the bench. That's on me."

Doncic took the blame for the defensive lapse, and he has been under serious fire from the NBA world for his poor defense down the stretch. This doesn't help the narrative from Doncic's NBA Finals performance on the defensive end of the floor, and now the flack from NBA fans has gotten even worse after his defensive lapse went viral.

NBA fans went off on Doncic on Thursday night and Friday, claiming that he is out of shape, and some fans went as far as to say that he is the main reason that Dallas is losing. Doncic is under some of the most criticism that he has ever been under, and he has to take his defense more seriously if he wants to be in MVP conversations again and help the Mavs turn into an elite contender once again.

Dallas has all of the pieces to be a solid contender, and although they have been extremely injured, the continuous losses have to stop now. This starts with them getting off to stronger starts and rebounding the ball better, and Doncic needs to lead by example in this area.

He is under some of the most fire we've ever seen get sent his way after giving up that Collins bucket earlier this week, and regardless of the miscommunication, he has to be better and compete more on that end.

Jason Kidd talked about the communication confusion on this play after the game, and there is no excuse for this happening in the clutch. Dallas' struggles at the end of games continued into their miserable performance in Utah, and they need to bounce back tonight against the San Antonio Spurs to get back on track.