The Dallas Mavericks are fresh off one of the greatest, most epic comebacks this game has ever seen.
No team had ever come back from a 9-point deficit with 33 seconds left on the clock, so what they did against the New York Knicks was, in fact, historical.
Nonetheless, most of that had to do with Luka Doncic‘s career night, as the Slovenian wunderkind once again reminded the league of how great he already is.
Doncic forced overtime and finished the night with 60 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists, the first-ever game with those kinds of numbers.
Needless to say, the team wanted to go all-in to celebrate that milestone in the locker room.
The only way to cool down Luka tonight 😅
🎥 @dallasmavs pic.twitter.com/ulY6c6pDuB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 28, 2022
Coach Jason Kidd tipped his hat off to Doncic after the game, comparing him with legends like Elgin Baylor or Wilt Chamberlain.
“He’s special. The history of the game is written by the players and it was written again tonight. For a player, Luka, doing something that’s never been done before. It’s hard to do,” Kidd said. “There were great players before him. I think he was next to [Elgin] Baylor and Wilt [Chamberlain], he was in that class. And then he separated himself. He made his own class which is pretty cool,” the former point guard added.
Doncic, on the other hand, was more modest and credited the team effort for the win:
“I mean, that was pretty impressive,” Doncic admitted. “The whole team just kept going. [Teams were] 0-13,000+ games and with 35 seconds [left]. That’s impressive. Everybody just kept it together. We believed.”
We’re getting used to these kinds of performances from the former Real Madrid star, but there’s absolutely nothing normal about a 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double.
NEXT: NBA Analyst Ranks Luka's Performance In NBA History