By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The full list of 40-point triple-doubles in the NBA this season: Luka Doncic 3, the rest of the league 0.
“It’s getting boring,” Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after Doncic’s 41-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist performance in Tuesday’s 116-113 win over the Golden State Warriors, via ESPN. “I mean, let’s see something different. Maybe do it with his left hand. I’m just joking.
“Look, he’s one of the best in the world, and that’s what he does. Some of us can take him for granted. The man is special.”
Dallas desperately needed a special performance from Doncic on Tuesday. The Mavericks had lost their previous four games and five of the last six to fall a game below .500 before hosting the defending champion Warriors, who eliminated Dallas in the Western Conference finals last season.
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, was dominant throughout the game while posting his league-high fifth triple-double of the season and 51st of his career. It was the fifth 40-point triple-double of his career, ranking behind only Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and LeBron James in NBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“His size and his ball-handling skills keep you on edge the entire game, and that plus him being a three-level scorer, you’ve got to worry about everything,” said Warriors star Stephen Curry, who had 32 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the loss. “Then obviously his court vision is unreal. It’s an offensive package of being a playmaker and scorer, and when he’s knocking down shots like he did tonight, it’s tough. You want to take something away from him, but he can make play after play.”