LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 04: Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks (Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
Luka Doncic was dominant against the Sacramento Kings.
While Rick Carlisle and Kristaps Porzingis are among the best in the league at what they do, the Dallas Mavericks will live and die by the superhuman feats of Luka Doncic. In the NBA‘s Orlando bubble against the scrappy Sacramento Kings, Doncic once again defied conventional logic with an insane stat line.
In a 114-110 overtime win over Sacramento, Doncic scored 34 points while grabbing 20 rebounds and dishing out 12 assists. He is only the fourth player in NBA history to record those numbers in a single game. With only four Mavericks scoring more than 10 points, they needed every single one of those points from Doncic.
Luka Doncic broke another triple-double record.
Doncic became the first player since Nikola Jokic to hit all those benchmarks in one game. He also became the youngest player in league history to record those numbers, as he was just 21 years and 158 days old when he piled up this unique triple-double. On the season, Doncic is averaging an absurd 28.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game in his sophomore season.
The Mavericks are now 41-29, which is good for seventh in the Western Conference. While they are in the postseason, they are currently staring down a matchup against Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the LA Clippers. If the Mavericks want to even tread water in that series, they need Doncic to once again be superhuman given the edge LA holds in depth and star power.
As long as Doncic is the lead dog in Dallas, the Mavericks will be a threat out in the West. Today was just another in a long series of the Slovenian superstar doing the almost impossible despite the fact that he is in the middle of his second season.