In Game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals matchup, a comical incident occurred a few minutes into the game, between Luka Doncic and a Thunder fan sitting courtside, who was in possession of the ball that had gone out-of-bounds. The Mavericks' superstar was seen gesturing for the basketball, but the OKC supporter ignored him and decided to throw it away in the other direction, despite Luka standing right in front of the fan.
Forget SGA and Dort, even the OKC fans were cooking Luka tonight?pic.twitter.com/fLP7TkQrw8
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) May 8, 2024
Luka's reaction was shown on the TV broadcast, as he was seen with his body language saying, "Really? C'mon Bruh."
To clarify, after the Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned the ball over out-of-bounds, the Mavericks were preparing to inbound the ball from the sideline. Important to note, as stated in the NBA rulebook, as soon as the referee calls a turnover, the team that now has possession of the ball can pass it in as soon as possible. The Mavs were seemingly trying to push the pace and inbound the ball quickly, which gives insight to the frustrations shown by the visiting team.
As apparently the fan and Doncic's running mate, Kyrie Irving, then got into a verbal altercation with each other after this took place.
The fan, who agitated the opposing team, has actually been identified as Juan Guerra II, a Thunder super fan. He commented on the situation after there was a mid-game warning issued by the NBA for being in "violation of the NBA fan code of conduct." He claimed that he wasn't trolling, and said Kyrie was "soft" for overreacting on the situation.
Two minutes in. lol. It y?all know me, I?m the most respectful person ever. Kyrie ran his mouth and I get this lol. Soft. #Thunderup pic.twitter.com/CXcueKdEUG
— Juan Guerra II (@LifeofJuanTwo) May 8, 2024
"It was really soft," Guerra said. "The ball got thrown at me... I tossed it to Tony Brothers who took off running the other way. Kyrie grabbed the ball and threw the ball back at us like really hard, like he was bowling. And he walked over and said, 'What the f*** are you thinking?' And I told him I was giving the ball back to Taylor and he said it again and I was like, 'It's too early in the game to be this soft.'"
Doncic's night didn't get any better after this situation, as he had a rough shooting game, considerably his worst one of the postseason so far, going 6-for-19 from the field (1-for-8 3PT), contributing only 19 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. In addition, Doncic and Irving (20 points) combined for a total of nine turnovers, in the 117-95 loss to the Thunder.
To point out, throughout this year's postseason, Doncic is averaging the lowest scoring mark of his playoff career, 28.3 points on 39.5% FG shooting (career-low).
When asked about his disappointing shooting night, Luka candidly stated, "Who cares? We lost. Just got to move onto the next one. Got to be better."
Game 2 will be played in Oklahoma City on Thursday, May 9 at 9:30 pm ET; Luka and Kyrie will try to even the series, when playing in front of their new friend, Guerra, who will once again be sitting courtside, as the OKC resident reportedly hasn't missed a home game since the infamous 2020-21 Covid season.
