Luka Doncic put on a performance never before seen in an NBA game on Tuesday night as the Dallas Mavericks pulled off a miracle comeback win against the New York Knicks.
"I'm tired as hell. I need a recovery beer."
Those were the words of an exhausted-but-exuberant Luka Doncic after the Dallas Mavericks pulled off a literal miracle victory against the New York Knicks at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night. In the last 20 years, NBA teams that were down nine points with at least 35 seconds remaining had a record of 0-13,884.
You can make that 1-13,884 after Dallas overcame a 112-103 deficit with less than 30 seconds left in regulation. The Mavs ultimately won in overtime, 126-121 thanks in large part to Doncic’s unbelievable, historic 60-point triple-double. His final stat line included 60 points on 21-31 shooting to go with 21 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I mean, that was pretty impressive,” said Doncic of his team’s improbable comeback. “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. That’s what I will say to that.”
When we say Doncic’s historic, we mean it. Here’s a list of all the milestones Doncic reached on Tuesday night, per Mavs PR:
- Set a new career-high of 60 points (51 vs. LAC, 2/10/22)
- Set a new career-high of 21 rebounds (20 at SAC, 8/4/20)
- Set a new Dallas Mavericks scoring record (53, Dirk Nowitzki vs. HOU, 12/2/04 in OT)
- Tied the Dallas Mavericks FGM record (21-33, Mark Aguirre vs. DEN, 3/24/84)
- Set a new American Airlines Center scoring record (57, Steph Curry, 2/6/21)
- Recorded the first 60-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist game in NBA history
- Recorded the second 60-point triple-double in NBA history (James Harden vs. ORL, 60p-10r-11a, 1/30/18)
- Set a new Dallas Mavericks record for 50-point games (3rd of career)
- Became the first Maverick with 50+ points twice in 3-game span (50 at HOU, 12/23)
- Became the sixth player in NBA history to record 6-or-more 40-point triple-doubles (Oscar Robertson, Harden, Westbrook, Chamberlain, LeBron James)
- Joined Nikola Jokić (7) atop the 2022-23 triple-double leaderboard
"I know, everybody is still in shock,” said coach Jason Kidd. “[Luka] always does [something new]. 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 – there've been some great players before him. As we were walking in, Elgin Baylor, I think Wilt [Chamberlain] – he was in that class and then he separated himself and made his own class, which is pretty cool."
Go enjoy that recovery beer, Mr. Doncic. We might need a few ourselves after witnessing that performance.
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