3 Duds, 2 studs from Mavericks' painful Game 3 loss to Celtics

3. Dud - Luka Doncic

One player who had a mixed game was All-Star Luka Doncic. The Mavs' star started off the game hot, scoring eight points in under six minutes. He would go on to have 16 points at the half.

The problem? He struggled to get things going in the second half, as his shooting and foul trouble made the difference. Doncic went 1-7 from the 3-point line. This was his worst performance in the series, as he had knocked down four 3-pointers in the past two games.

Overall, he shot 40.7 percent. This is a dip from his regular numbers, as he had knocked down above 45 percent of his shots.

On the plus side, he limited his amount of turnovers. Doncic had three turnovers Wednesday, five less than the previous game. He also converted 100 percent of his free throw attempts.

However, his inability to stay in the game and play defense might have hurt the team.

Doncic picked up his sixth foul with 4:12 left in the game. This was a critical turning point in the game, as Dallas had cut the Celtics' lead to three points. The team failed to recover from Doncic's absence.

His defense too was a concern. Boston' players seemed to have no problem getting past the Mavs' MVP.

Doncic will need to be near perfect for Dallas to avoid elimination Friday.

Doncic received injections to help with the pain of his thoracic contusion before Game 2, and likely before Game 3, and he'll need to have his best game of the playoffs if the Mavs want to win.