DALLAS – Luka Doncic had his way with one of the best defenders in NBA history. Unfortunately, the Dallas Mavericks didn’t have their way with one of the best teams in the NBA.
Doncic was spectacular in recording his second career triple-double on Sunday when he produced a career-high 35 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Toronto. But the Raptors made all the critical plays in the waning moments and were able to get out of American Airlines Center with a 123-120 victory over the Mavs.
Doncic is the first NBA teenager to have multiple triple-doubles. Plus, according to Elias Sports Bureau, he also is the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double that included 30 points.
The loss, however, snapped the Mavericks’ two-game winning streak and sent them with a 22-27 record to New York, where they start a three-game road trip on Wednesday against the Knicks.
This was the second career triple-double for Doncic, who fashioned his first career triple-double on Jan. 21 in Milwaukee. Thus, Doncic became the first member of the Mavs to post multiple triple-doubles in the same season since Jason Kidd picked up a pair of triple-doubles during the 2010-11 season.
Doncic was 19 years and 333 days on Sunday. LeBron James, the previous record holder, was 20 years and 100 days old when he had 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Milwaukee on Apr. 9, 2005.
Still, despite the dominance by Doncic, who did a lot of his damage against one the league’s premier defenders in Kawhi Leonard, the Mavs’ defense didn’t help matters by taking Sunday off. Toronto led the Mavs 70-58 at the half, and then added another 38 points in the final quarter after the Mavs had rallied to take a 92-85 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
“Unfortunately, the fourth (quarter) looked more like the first half,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Our defense has got to be more consistent from start to finish – it’s pretty clear.
“(Allowing) 70 in the first half is way too many. We talked about it at halftime. Some of it was turnovers, some of it was not getting back quickly enough in transition, some of it was two or three offensive rebounding plays where we didn’t quite get the rebound and they grabbed it and throw to a guy for a three.”
Carlisle blamed himself for what hampered the Mavericks in the final quarter.
“Down the stretch we didn’t do a good job against their zone – that’s on me, that’s total a coaching thing,” Carlisle said. “I’ve got to do a better job of preparing these guys.
“That’s on me, so I take responsibility for the loss. Look, it’s 48 minutes and you’ve got be better from start to finish. Simple as that.”
Meanwhile, Doncic was basking in the glow of his best game as an NBA player.
“It was special, for sure,” Doncic said of his triple-double. “It’s special, but it was more special to get a win.”
And if Doncic was trying to send any subtle messages to the Western Conference coaches who will vote by Tuesday’s deadline if he is one of the seven reserves to play in next month’s All-Star game, consider the message sent. That’s especially true considering Doncic was mostly guarded by Leonard, a no-nonsense defender who is one of the best to ever play this game..
“You just got to be careful, because he’s a really good defender,” Doncic said. “He’s a great competitor. He’s one of the best in the league.”
Leonard led the Raptors (37-15) with 33 points and 10 rebounds, Kyle Lowry had 19 points and nine assists, and Serge Ibaka added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Besides Doncic, the Mavs got 14 points and six rebounds from Harrison Barnes, 13 points and six assists from Dennis Smith Jr., 13 points and five rebounds from Dorian Finney-Smith, and 12 points from Wesley Matthews.
“We scored enough points — 120 points is enough points to win an NBA game,” Carlisle said. “But even a high-scoring team like Toronto, you’ve got to find a way to keep them somehow in the low hundreds and we just didn’t do it.
“If you dare a team like Toronto to get in a shootout, it’s a tough way to go. And in the end we just didn’t get there.”
