Luka Doncic’s dominant night versus the Celtics apparently included a jaw-fest with the team’s owner.
That’s according to reports from the game at TD Garden, alleging Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck “taunted” Doncic, to which the star Mavericks forward “started barking back at him” in the second half en route to a triple-double in Boston’s 105-98 win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
“Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck just taunted Luka Doncic on the sidelines. Doncic drilled his next shot and started barking at him in the front row,” The Athletic’s Jay King posted Sunday on X.
King provided context in a follow-up post, writing: “Grousbeck held his arms up in the ‘T’ sign in Doncic’s direction while Doncic was inbounding the ball. Looked like he wanted Doncic whacked for a technical. Doncic didn’t seem to like it based on how he followed up his next bucket.”
The incident appeared to transpire in the third quarter.
Doncic, who scored 32 points Sunday despite being listed as questionable before tipoff, was asked after the game about the alleged exchange with Grousbeck.
“Luka, it looked like you had an interaction with the Celtics owner, did he do something or say something that you thought was over the line?” a reporter said before Doncic, 25, replied, “I’m sorry, I don’t know who is the Celtics owner…”
When pressed if there was someone in the front row who he conversed with, the five-time All-Star said, “No.”
The taunts started early for Doncic and the Mavericks on Sunday.
During pregame warmups, Doncic posed for a photo with a young Boston fan who said, “You know it’s Celtics in four, right?”
The series will shift to Dallas for the next two games, beginning Wednesday with Game 3.
Doncic’s teammate and former Celtic Kyrie Irving has already told the Boston crowd they’ll be back for Game 5.