Mavs Luka Doncic Makes NBA History Averaging 50-Point Triple-Double Over Weekend: 'I'm Tired!'
The Dallas Mavericks are coming off a busy weekend where they defeated the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, 148-143, and then nearly pulled off a 23-point comeback against the Sacramento Kings in a 120-115 loss on Saturday night.
With Kyrie Irving sidelined for both games, Luka Doncic put up video-game numbers, becoming the first player in NBA history to average a 50-point triple-double in a two-game span. He poured in 73 points against the Hawks on Friday, tying for the fourth-most points scored in a single game in NBA history. Then, on a second night of a back-to-back, Doncic posted a 28-point, 10-rebound, 17-assists triple-double against the Kings.
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"I'm tired. I can't wait to go to sleep honestly," Doncic said after logging 90 minutes of action in back-to-back games. "I think we fought well. I'm proud of how this team fought. Obviously, we didn't get the win, but this team fought really well."
Despite the Mavs' unfortunate injury luck and overall inconsistencies, Doncic's MVP-level play has stayed steady. The newly-minted five-time All-Star is averaging a career-high 34.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and a career-high 9.4 assists while shooting 48.8 percent overall and 37.5 percent from deep, which is yet another career-high.
"I think Luka, again, when you look at what he's done here in the last 48 hours, he's averaging a triple-double. He's averaging a million points. He's doing everything we're asking him. We've just got to find him some help," Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said after Dallas lost to Sacramento.
"We've got to be consistent with the help and also with our health and everything else. We're asking him to do everything and he's trying. That's how I feel about what he's doing for us right now. He gets us back in the game. We had a great look; we were only down six. Timmy [Hardaway Jr.] gets a wide-open corner 3. If we make that, we'll see what happens. But the group fought on a back-to-back [after a] historic night last night. The energy was inconsistent. We were trying to find it from everybody. That group there at the end kept fighting and finding a way. There's a lot of character in that locker room -- they didn't give up."
The Mavs are now 25-21, which is good for eighth-place in the Western Conference standings. Despite having lost six of its last nine games, Dallas is still just 1.5 games back of the Phoenix Suns, who currently occupy the sixth spot in the West. The Mavs' next four games are against the Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.
