Luka Doncic Again 'Pulls an Oscar,' But Here's Most Unique Trait of Mavs Superstar
DALLAS - Nobody in the NBA is stuffing the boxscore like Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, to the point where coach Rick Carlisle notes that it's all both "special'' and "normal'' when he performs as he did Wednesday when he once again "pulled an Oscar.'' But there is a subtlety tucked into the numbers that is both "special'' and "abnormal' ...
First, the hard numbers: Luka led the Mavs to a dominant 142-94 pounding of the Golden State Warriors (game story here), becoming the youngest player to ever record back-to-back 35-point triple-doubles. In Dallas' previous game, he registered a 42-point triple-double in beating the Spurs. Here, he scored 35 points in 25 minutes, with an early explosion so dominant that he was able to sit out a great deal of the game.
That feat against the Spurs makes Luka only the second under-21 player to record a 40-point triple-double, following LeBron James.
This feat? At 20 years-and-265-days old, Doncic is the youngest player in NBA history with consecutive 35-point triple-doubles, Oscar Robertson having been the previous youngest at 22 years-34 days old in December 1960.
Next, the quote from Rick: “He is on an amazing run right now. He is doing it without disrupting team flow, which is very unique.''
Ah, yes. "Without disrupting team flow.'' There are ways for guys to score 35 points in 25 minutes - mostly as a result of "selfishness.'' But Doncic? His numbers came with efficiency (35 points on 10-for-18 shooting), with grit (10 rebounds) an with unselfishness (11 assists), all adding up to him becoming the first player in NBA history to record a 35-point triple-double in 25 minutes or less.
Doncic was last season's Rookie of the Year. As a charismatic triple-double machine (he's got seven triple-doubles this season and five with 30 or more points for the 9-5 fifth-in-the-West Mavs), he will be an All-Star for 2019-20. Maybe soon after that, he will continue his roll toward MVP consideration.
And how stat-conscious is Luka himself?
"Yeah, I heard it,'' Doncic said of the in-game stat count. (Video via Taimon R. Turner and Dallas Fanatic.) "They update me – the (Mavs sideline) staff that keep my stats, obviously. I heard them cheer a lot.”
Many of those cheers reward the scoring. But they should also reward the selflessness.
