Dallas Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd considers himself a student of the game of basketball. He was often praised during his playing days for his basketball IQ and knowledge of the game. But even he had never seen anything liked what happened on Tuesday, December 27th.
The New York Knicks had the Mavericks dead to rights, up nine with 30 seconds to go but then something magical happened for the Mavericks.
One three, then a turnover and a three-point play. Suddenly, in seconds, Dallas was within a single possession.
Miles McBride of the Knicks left the door open by missing a free throw with 11 seconds left, and another three brought the Mavs within one. McBride made his next two free throws, and the Knicks opted to foul Luka Doncic with four seconds left, up three. But like his coach, Luka is starting to gain a reputation for his basketball IQ, after making the first free throw, Luka put just the right amount of spin on his second attempt to get it to come back to him, and with one second left he sank a put-back jumper to tie the score and send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, it was all Luka. He scored seven of Dallas’ 11 points in overtime.
The Knicks as a team had just six, and the Mavericks pulled away with an unlikely 126-121 victory.
Luka’s line was the stuff of legends.
60 points, a career-high.
21 rebounds, a career-high.
And 10 assists for his seventh triple double of the season.
He also became the only player in the long and storied history of the National Basketball Association to post a 60-20-10 line.
“He’s special,” Coach Kidd said after the game, still in shock from what he saw. “The history of this game is written by the players, and it was written again tonight. First and foremost Luka, doing something that’s never been done before. That’s hard to do. There’s been some great players before him. Elgin Baylor, Wilt, he was in that class, and then he separated himself and made his own class, which is pretty cool.”
Credit is also due to the rest of the Mavs, who didn’t quit when the game seemed out of reach. Christian Wood kicked off the game-tying run with a trey with 26 seconds left to pull Dallas within six. He finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Spence Dinwiddie sank the three that brought Dallas within one. He finished with 25 points on 9-of-15. JaVale McGee’s presence in the post led Doncic to be able to grab his own rebound in the final seconds.
“[Luka] doesn’t quit, but I think he trusted [his teammates]. Late game was better for us tonight. Spencer makes a big shot. He could’ve easily flipped it back to LD, he keeps it, he has a wide open three. The put-back, JaVale caused that. Everybody participated and helped us win. That was a big play by JaVale, sitting there the whole night and then being able to help tie the game…Luka doesn’t quit. He keeps playing. And his teammates didn’t quit. They saw that from their leader and everyone had a part in making a big play down the stretch.”