The Dallas Mavericks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 125-118 on Thursday night. In their process, their star, Luka Dončić, made history.
Dončić finished the game with 45 points. It was the fourth 45+ game of his career. In his entire career with the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki “only” reached 45 points three times. Dončić’s fourth such game tied him with Mark Aguirre for the most in the history of the franchise.
Luka Dončić records his fourth career 45-point game, tying Mark Aguirre for the most in Mavericks history ✨ pic.twitter.com/xLDhq9R1PZ
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 18, 2022
But Dončić didn’t only make Mavericks history. His overall game included not only 45 points but also 15 rebounds, eight assists, seven three-pointers, and a plus-minus of 21.
You can count on one hand how many players in the history of the NBA have had a game like that. In fact, prior to Thursday, you wouldn’t need one hand or even one finger. Dončić ‘s game was the first of its kind in NBA history.
Luka Dončić of the @dallasmavs is the first player in NBA history to …
-score 40+ points
-grab 15+ rebounds
-dish out 5+ assists
-make 5+ threes
-have a plus-minus of +20 or better… all in the same game.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) February 18, 2022
Even crazier is that Dončić ‘s performance could have been even better.
Can a 49-15-8 performance be considered disappointing? Luka Doncic missed two free throws that would have given his second 50-point night in a week. He’s as dominant as he’s ever been right now.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 18, 2022
Regardless of those minor hiccups, basketball fans were in awe of his outing.
Luka Doncic is the best player in the NBA right now.
— Mike Bacsik (@MikeBacsik) February 18, 2022
Officially starting my Luka Doncic will be the G.O.A.T campaign
— Jo (@MavsStan41) February 18, 2022
https://twitter.com/HouseMavericks/status/1494486543167369223
Nothing you can do about Luka when he’s on like this lol https://t.co/VIl6I8gWrY
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) February 18, 2022
Luka showing up late to the MVP discussion pic.twitter.com/cmWRoLnKap
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) February 18, 2022
Where Luka ends on all nba is gonna be fascinating
— Kirk Henderson (@KirkSeriousFace) February 18, 2022
As gaudy as the offensive numbers are for Dončić, his play on the other side of the ball is also turning heads.
Luka’s defensive improvement is not talked about enough #mffl
#DALvsNOP— Sy'Quoria 💙 (@syquoria_77) February 18, 2022
"I think he's always been able to play defense. Sometimes players just need to be asked to do something." – Jason Kidd on Luka Doncic's defense
— The Kobe Beef (@TheKobeBeef) February 18, 2022
Of course, Dončić’s game on Tuesday didn’t come out of nowhere. It was his latest over what’s been a red-hot run over his last 10 games, which coincided with something else happening.
Luka Doncic since receiving 0 All-Star stater votes from the media (10 games):
35.4 PPG
10.3 RPG
9.8 APG
43.3 3P% on 9.7 attemptsHe had 49/15/8 and 7 threes tonight. pic.twitter.com/wTbB81oMBi
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 18, 2022
Dončić’s stretch has also coincided with a 7-3 record from Dallas. We can only imagine that Mavericks fans will be OK with continued snubs if that’s the kind of play that will follow them.
