DALLAS — Fans inside the American Airlines Center on Tuesday witnessed one of the greatest individual regular season performances in NBA history.
In fact, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic wrote himself into the record books in a class of his own. Doncic recorded a stat line of 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists – never been accomplished before in NBA history.
That's right. Not even the likes of legend Wilt Chamberlain – who seemingly is in every statistical class – has done this. This is just part of Tuesday's Luka magic, though.
The electricity in the American Airlines Center started with an improbable comeback. The Mavericks were down by nine points with 33 seconds left in regulation. Christian Wood made a 3-pointer ... boom. Down six. Doncic stole the ball and drained an and-one (converted the free throw) with 15 seconds left.
Boom ... down three.
At this point, Doncic had logged 50 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists, which had only been done by two other people in NBA history: Wilt Chamberlain (twice) and Elgin Baylor.
Dallas fouled and the Knicks went 1-for-2 from the line. Spencer Dinwiddie hit a three with 9.1 seconds left. Boom ... down by one. Dallas fouls and the Knicks make both free throws to go back up by three with seven seconds left.
New York, in the bonus, foul Doncic to send him to the free throw line for two shots instead of allowing him the opportunity to tie the game with a 3-pointer. Doncic made the first free throw, and Dallas was down by two with four seconds remaining.
Enter Luka magic. Doncic purposefully threw the ball off the rim, secured the offensive rebound and drained the game-tying bucket, sending the American Airlines Center (and the Internet) into a frenzy.
Doncic went on to score seven points in overtime en route to a 126-121 overtime win over the New York Knicks and his final stat line of 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists. According to ESPN Stats & Info, NBA teams were 0-for-13,884 in the last 20 seasons when trailing by at least nine with 35 or fewer seconds remaining.
Make that 1-for-13,885.
The online reaction to Doncic's all-time performance was palpable.
And then, the Slovenian-turned-Texan gave us the quote of the night:
"I'm tired as hell ... I need a recovery beer," Doncic said after the game on Bally Sports Southwest.
Rest up, king. You deserve it. And cheers.
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