Luka Doncic was sick in Game 1 against Warriors, according to reports / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

The Dallas Mavericks lost Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors two nights ago. The information has surfaced that their leader, Luka Doncic, might now have been in the best condition during the match.

Luka Doncic

MIN:35.48PTS:28.71 (53.23%)REB:9.21As:8.39ST:1.25BL:0.53TO:4.45GM:76ProfileNBA2021/2022

"I hear he's sick today," Kevin Harlan, who was the play-by-play announcer for TNT for the game, said during KNBR's Papa & Lund podcast. "I guess he was up most of the night and ill. I’ve heard it now from two different people, so I’m assuming it’s probably true."

"The body language that he showed, just the zest that he showed in Game 7 in Phoenix was not there last night," the announcer told. "And I’m not sure if perhaps he was a little bit under the weather. He didn’t play like he played in the Suns series, that’s for sure, and he needed every ounce of what he gives them, and that was not apparent."

"I don’t want to diminish at all what the Warriors did," Harlan continued. "It was sound and clear cut, there’s no ambiguity there whatsoever. ... I’m just passing along what I heard from two people that he was up all night and sick."

Harlan later explained that the two sources he mentions are neither from the Mavericks nor the Warriors organizations and he's not certain whether the symptoms started during or after the match.

Doncic was not himself during the match, shooting 6/18 from the field with 7 turnovers, which marks the first time he's had more turnovers than field goals in a playoff game. His plus-minus metric was the worst of the entire Mavs team with -30.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled to take play tonight in Oakland where the Doncic-led Mavericks will look to bounce back after suffering a loss in Game 1.

Full Papa & Lund Podcast with Kevin Harlan:

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