The Mavs staved off the sweep and elimination with the victory to bring it back to 3-1, although history suggests teams do not win from that position.
Dallas’ win marked the fourth time they have won Game 4 when facing a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series, losing Game 5 on the previous three occasions, while Golden State has led 10 playoff series 3-0 in the past, sweeping six and four times winning in five.
“I still believe we can win,” Doncic said. “Swept or not swept, in the end, if you lose, you lose.
“It doesn’t matter how many you win, but we have to go game by game. We’re going to believe until the end.”
Doncic scored 30 points with 14 rebounds and nine assists for a near triple-double. The Slovenian shot 10-of-26 but added to his defensive game with two steals and two blocks.
The performance came on the same day he was named in the All-NBA First Team alongside Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker.
“It’s a blessing,” Doncic said. “As a kid I only dreamed of being in the NBA, and now it’s my third All-NBA team. I’m really happy and thankful to everybody that made it happen.”
The series returns to San Francisco on Thursday for Game 5 where the Warriors can wrap up the series.
“Just made the decision to see if we could pull off a miracle, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“Dallas was great tonight. They deserved to win. This is the conference finals. This is how it’s supposed to be.”