Mavs Star Luka Doncic Dominates as Slovenia Defeats Sweden
Slovenia went into their matchup with Sweden knowing a win would advance them to the second round of World Cup qualifiers. Slovenia previously beat Croatia to put them in this position.
Doncic led Slovenia in scoring with 31 points, followed by Goran Dragic with 20. Luka also finished with 10 rebounds, six assists, and five turnovers. It was not his best game in the turnover department, but it was still a dominant performance. Overall, Doncic finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field.
Slovenia held on to win by a narrow margin against Sweden, 84-81, as Doncic showed off several of his usual tricks. He found Mike Tobey for an alley-oop early in the second quarter. Tobey and Doncic displayed the chemistry they share on the floor in the Tokyo Olympics. Doncic also hit several of his signature step-back threes. He even brought out the rare dunk on a driving attempt to the rim.
Sweden tied the game with four minutes left on an alley-oop dunk. There was some back-and-forth scoring. With 1:40 remaining in the game, Slovenia trailed 81-80 when Zoran Dragic drove and kicked the ball out to his brother Goran, who scored on a driving lay-up to give Slovenia the lead 82-81. Doncic then turned the ball over to give Sweden a glimmer of hope, but they couldn’t capitalize and missed an open 3 for the lead. Slovenia iced it away from there with two clutch free throws from Goran Dragic.
Before the game, Luka Doncic met up with Dirk Nowitzki and his family, who were in attendance to witness some “Luka Magic.” Nowitzki was even seen on the sidelines heckling Doncic (jokingly) along with the hostile crowd, chanting, "over-rated!"
Overall, it was a mesmerizing performance for Doncic and Slovenia. Whether it is playing for his national team, or playing for the Dallas Mavericks, the pride, grit and joy Doncic plays with is something to behold.
