Dallas’ Luka Doncic posted career highs of 60 points and 21 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and converted a put-back with one second left to force overtime, and the Mavericks emerged with a 126-121 win over the visiting New York Knicks on Tuesday.
It marked the first 60/20/10 performance in NBA history.
Doncic led the Mavericks on a raucous, fourth-quarter comeback from down nine points with just 44.6 seconds remaining. He scored 12 points in the final 2:38 of regulation, including the last three in a wild sequence to force overtime.
New York sent Doncic to the free-throw line with a take foul, leading 115-112 with 4.2 seconds remaining. Doncic sunk the first shot, then — after intentionally missing the second — chased down the carom tipped backwards from a scrum and hoisted up a shot just before the buzzer to knot the score at 115.
In overtime, Dallas did not yield a field goal for more than four minutes, building a five-point lead in the process. Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie put the game away with foul shooting down the stretch.
Doncic’s final two free throws bumped him to his final scoring total, giving him the first 50-point, 20-rebound triple-double since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968.
For Doncic, Tuesday marked his second game with at least 50 points in the last three outings — while the Knicks gave up at least 51 points to one player for the second time in four games. New York’s losing streak, which reached four games with Tuesday’s loss, began Dec. 21 when the Knicks gave up 52 points to Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.
The loss in Dallas also marked the Knicks’ second in the current skid where New York coughed up a lead in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, giving up the winning basket to Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan on Friday.
Doncic’s historic performance overshadowed a career-best night from New York’s Quentin Grimes, who scored a personal-high 33 points and matched his career high with seven made 3-pointers.
Julius Randle added 29 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the loss, and Mitchell Robinson added 20 points and 16 rebounds. Dinwiddie scored 25 points and Christian Wood chipped in 19 points for the Mavericks.
New York lost RJ Barrett less than two minutes into Tuesday’s contest due to a finger laceration.
–Field Level Media
