Luka Doncic is must-see TV, and that was on full display on Saturday night in Orlando. Doncic recorded a triple-double with 36 points, 19 assists, and 14 rebounds. He dominated and led the Mavericks to a 136-132 victory in OT over the Bucks.
Late in OT, with the Mavericks up two, Doncic had the best assist of the night when he passed the ball between his legs to Maxi Kleber for a dunk plus the foul.
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3️⃣7️⃣ assists in yesterday’s OT win! For every assist @Kroger is donating $20 per assist to support the @MavsCare! #MFFL pic.twitter.com/uEiXVuRSOl
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 9, 2020
After the game, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle reacted to Doncic’s between the legs pass.
“I clapped. I applauded. I thought it was phenomenal,” Carlisle said. “The sign of a great player — a truly great player — is the ability to pull off something like that against a team like Milwaukee that gives up virtually zero in the paint, and that leads to an and-one. That was a huge play in the game too. We’re seeing more things all the time. Luka is not only a great basketball player; he’s a great performer. I’d pay money to watch him play. I don’t say that about a lot of players, but he’s really special.”
Doncic added: “I don’t know what I did. I just did it. I didn’t think about it before, just in the moment.”
The 21-year-old Doncic is putting up NBA 2k type of numbers in Orlando. He has three triple-doubles in the bubble. In five games in Orlando, Doncic is averaging 33.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 11.6 assists per contest, and according to Carlisle, the second-year player is getting better,
“The guy is a phenomenal player, and he’s getting better by the hour, by the day,” Carlisle said. “The efficiency numbers against these two past teams are really remarkable. Both teams will turn you over. Both teams have guys that will deflect and get their hands on a lot of balls. I was most impressed with his leadership throughout the game. He kept a really calm demeanor. He kept guys playing during some tough stretches. His conversations with the officials were short and to the point. The officials listened, and we moved on. The leadership aspect of it, really in the big picture, is just as big as these ridiculous statistics that he’s putting up.”
After five games in the bubble, Doncic has probably been the MVP of the NBA restart. Doncic, who is one of the finalists for the league’s Most Improved Player Award, is playing at a high level. if he continues to play at this level for the rest of the season and beyond, we might be calling Doncic the best player in the NBA.
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