Doncic’s historic triple-double powers Mavs to improbable win over Knicks
Luka Doncic became the first player in NBA history to record 60 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists in a game as he guided the Dallas Mavericks to an improbable comeback win in overtime against the New York Knicks, 126-121, on Tuesday, December 27 (Wednesday, December 28, Manila time).
The Mavericks trailed 110-101 with less than 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter before Doncic stole the show, his intentional miss from the free throw line the highlight of a wild game.
Needing 2 points to tie the game with 4.2 seconds left on the clock, Doncic forced a rebound off his own free throw, grabbed the ball in a melee, and nailed the shot while falling to the floor to force overtime.
The Mavericks then cruised to a 126-121 victory as an ecstatic American Airlines Center crowd roared their team on.
“I’m tired as hell. I need a recovery beer,” said Doncic after recording career-high numbers.
“I just threw it up, I was kind of lucky … We were down, we came back, this is an amazing feeling.”
Doncic is the seventh player to record a 50-point tripe-double in the NBA, while the Slovenian 23-year-old becomes the youngest to achieve the feat, taking the record from one of the all-time greats Wilt Chamberlain.
“It’ll be another statue in Dallas… Luka is like that!” Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett said on Twitter.
Doncic led the Mavericks in a raucous, fourth-quarter comeback from down 9 points with just 44.6 seconds remaining. He scored 12 points in the final 2:38 of regulation, including the last three in a wild sequence to force overtime.
New York sent Doncic to the free throw line with a take foul, leading 115-112 with 4.2 seconds remaining. Doncic sank the first shot, then after intentionally missing the second, chased down the carom tipped backwards from a scrum and hoisted up a shot just before the buzzer to knot the score at 115.
In overtime, Dallas did not yield a field goal for more than four minutes, building a five-point lead in the process. Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie put the game away with foul shooting down the stretch.
Doncic’s final two free throws bumped him to his final scoring total, giving him the first 50-point, 20-rebound triple-double since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968.
60 PTS
— NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2022
21 REB
10 AST
Luka Doncic is the first player EVER in NBA history to record 60+ PTS, 20+ REB, and 10+ AST in a game.
Historic.
pic.twitter.com/ik8MdBYJvp
For Doncic, Tuesday marked his second game with at least 50 points in the last three outings – while the Knicks gave up at least 51 points to one player for the second time in four games.
New York’s losing streak, which reached four games with Tuesday’s loss, began December 21 when the Knicks gave up 52 points to Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.
The loss in Dallas also marked the Knicks’ second in the current skid where New York coughed up a lead in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, giving up the winning basket to Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan on Friday.
Doncic’s historic performance overshadowed a career-best night from New York’s Quentin Grimes, who scored a personal-high 33 points and matched his career high with seven made three-pointers.
Julius Randle added 29 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the loss, and Mitchell Robinson added 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Dinwiddie scored 25 points and Christian Wood chipped in 19 points for the Mavericks.
New York lost RJ Barrett less than two minutes into Tuesday’s contest due to a finger laceration.
– Rappler.com