Luka Doncic Says 'I Could've Played a Lot Better' in Game 5 vs. Clippers

Despite putting up a huge stat line against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was critical of his performance.

According to Mark Medina of USA Today, Doncic said: "I could've played a lot better. I missed a lot of shots and layups."

Doncic registered 42 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds in a 105-100 Game 5 victory that has the Mavs one win away from eliminating the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.

Doncic's critique is difficult to fathom considering he scored or assisted on 31 of the Mavs' 37 made field goals, per FanDuel's Rob Perez:

He did only make 17 of his 37 shots and had four turnovers, but that's not an absurd number considering how much he handled the ball in 43 minutes.

Aside from Doncic, the only other Mavs player to score in double figures was Tim Hardaway Jr., who finished with 20 points. Big man Kristaps Porzingis is often Doncic's top offensive complement, but he finished with just eight points on 3-of-6 shooting. Dallas also got just 18 bench points. Looking ahead, both will likely need to change for the Mavs to make a serious run.

As a team, the Mavs shot only 41.6 percent from the field; however, they did shine from behind the arc and at the free-throw line, shooting 38.9 percent and 89.5 percent, respectively.

Now, the Clippers are on the brink of another early exit, while the Mavs are one win away from their first trip to the second round since 2011.

If Doncic is able to come anywhere close to repeating Wednesday's performance in Game 6 on Friday, then Kawhi Leonard and Paul George figure to receive no shortage of criticism for failing to take the Clips on a deep run for the second year in a row.