Luka Doncic joked he ‘needed a recovery beer’ after making NBA history with a 60-21-10 triple-double in a Mavericks win, including an epic comeback to play in overtime… and get drenched as a reward!
As if NBA fans didn’t love Luka Doncic enough, he loved himself even more in a hilarious postgame interview following another historic performance.
Doncic almost single-handedly led the Mavs to a 126-121 overtime victory, making history with the NBA’s first 60-point, 20-rebound and 10-assist game.
In all, the Slovenian superstar finished with 60 points, 21 rebounds — both career highs — and 10 assists as the Knicks dropped their fourth straight game. Emotions were clearly high after the game in the Dallas locker room as Doncic was showered by his teammates, though he wasn’t as drenched in beer as he had hoped.
The 23-year-old led an improbable comeback with the Mavs down nine points with 44.6 seconds left. New York sent Doncic to the free-throw line with a take foul, leading 115-112 with 4.2 seconds left.
Luka Doncic continued his phenomenal season with an impressive display on Tuesday night
Doncic made the first, then — after intentionally missing the second — chased the carom back from the scrum and lofted a buzzer-beater to knot the score at 115.
‘I am tired. I need a recovery beer,’ Doncic said in a postgame interview.
‘I just threw it, I was a bit lucky… We were down, we came back, it was an amazing feeling.’
In overtime, Dallas didn’t make a field goal until more than four minutes in and after building a five-point lead. Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie were ejected from the game for foul shooting down the stretch.
New York’s extended losing streak ended with their own record. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahonteams leading by nine points with 35 seconds or less in regulation are 13,884-0 over the past 20 NBA seasons.
Doncic was drenched after the game when he walked into the Dallas Mavericks’ victorious locker room
Doncic’s last two free throws bumped him to his all-time scoring total, making him the first player in NBA history with a triple-double of 60 points and at least 20 rebounds. He was the first 50-point and 20-rebound triple-double since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968.
He became the seventh player to record a 50-point triple-double in the NBA, while the 23-year-old Slovenian became the youngest to accomplish the feat, taking the record from one of the all-time greats, Wilt Chamberlain.
‘To do something that’s never been done before, it’s hard to do,’ Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. ‘There were some great players before him. Elgin Baylor and Wilt, he was in that class, and then he split off and made his own class.’
For Doncic, Tuesday marked his second game with at least 50 points in the last three games — while the Knicks gave up at least 51 points to a player for the second time in four games.
Doncic was in obvious joy following his historic performance against the NY Knicks
New York’s losing streak, which reached four games with Tuesday’s loss, began Dec. 21 when the Knicks gave up 51 points to Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.
The loss in Dallas also marked the Knicks’ second of the current skid as New York blew a lead in the final 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.
