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Luka Doncic's newest motivation could be Thunder's kryptonite

Noah Weber
Noah Weber

The Smoking Cuban

Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic / Joshua Gateley/GettyImages

On Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks took down the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road to tie the series at 1-1.

Luka Doncic's struggles from Game 1 which mostly stemmed from his knee injury were nonexistent in Game 2, as he finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists while shooting 11-21 from the field and 5-8 from downtown. Doncic was dominant from the start, and Lu Dort may not be as much of a Luka stopper as Mark Daigneault may have thought.

This was one of the best Doncic games of the playoffs so far, and one hidden factor from Game 2 at the Paycom Center helped lead to this excellent performance.

Luka Doncic is motivated by hostile Thunder crowd

Doncic is known for taking his game to the next level when fans who are sitting near the court try to chirp at him, and that's exactly what happened on Thursday night. There were loud "Luka sucks" chants in the crowd, and separately, a fan sitting near the court started talking about Doncic's family.

After the game, Doncic said that he used this as motivation, and fans still haven't learned their lesson when it comes to talking trash with him. Luka always takes his game to the next level when fans are saying outlandish things, and Kyrie Irving was someone who came to the defense of Doncic in this game.

Irving even encouraged the fans to continue the "Luka sucks" chant during Game 2. He knows his co-star feeds off this, and Irving had an excellent all-around game despite scoring just nine points. He dished out 11 assists and had two steals and two blocks. Irving impacted the game tremendously, and they'll need another big performance out of him in Game 3 today.

This was not the first altercation that Doncic and Irving have had with Thunder fans, as Irving got into an altercation with a fan who was sitting on the floor during Game 1. Doncic was standing right there as well, and it may be in the Thunder fans' best interest to not poke the bear with Doncic.

He always uses this trash talk as motivation, no matter how big the stage is.

For all the latest on Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, and the Dallas Mavericks, stay tuned.

Noah Weber

Noah Weber

Noah Weber is the Site Expert for The Smoking Cuban, covering the Dallas Mavericks as a credentialed media member since the 2022-23 season. With a Bachelor of Science in Sports Media from Oklahoma State University, Noah has worked in sports journalism since 2019. While he's covered the Dallas Cowboys and Oklahoma State Cowboys, he has now established himself as a go-to voice for Mavericks coverage. Noah's expertise includes in-depth game analysis, social media content creation, and offering unique perspectives through his reporting. His work has been featured on major platforms such as ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Overtime. During his time at Oklahoma State, Noah won first place in the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association Awards for a show he co-produced. Outside of covering the Mavs, Noah enjoys working out, playing basketball and Spikeball, and spending quality time with friends and family.