USA TODAY International Edition
Doncic’s OT heroics lift Mavericks
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The large bag of ice was wrapped firmly around Luka Doncic’s sprained left ankle.
That ankle did not deter Doncic from playing and dominating. He led the Mavericks to a 135- 133 overtime win over the Clippers on Sunday in their NBA Western Conference first- round playoff series by finishing with 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists, to tie the series at 2- 2.
His biggest points?
They came on the game- winning 3pointer as time expired.
“It obviously wasn’t 100 percent,” Doncic said of his ankle. “But I think it was good.”
So was Doncic’s performance, which Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said will “go down in history in some form as one of the great games a second- year player has ever played.”
Carlisle also compared Doncic to a former Hall of Fame point guard he coached ( Jason Kidd) and a former Hall of Fame forward he played with ( Larry Bird) after Doncic joined Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley as the only players in NBA history to have at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff game.
“We know this kid has a flair for the dramatic and is a performer as well as a great player,” Carlisle said of Doncic. “This is a guy that lives for these moments and is completely fearless. At the end, it was all about trying to get the ball in his hands.”
So with the Mavericks trailing the Clippers 133- 132 with 3.7 seconds left, Dallas forward Dorian Finney Smith inbounded the ball to Doncic after he cut toward the top of the key while Max Kleber set a down-screen on Clippers star Kawhi Leonard. Doncic picked up the pass, took a few dribbles and drilled a 27- foot step- back 3- pointer over guard Reggie Jackson.
Then he was mobbed.
“When I saw the whole team running toward me, it was something special,” Doncic said. “It’s one of the best things that has ever happened as a player.”
The performance became special for other reasons, too.
The Mavericks missed center Kristaps Porzingis because of right knee soreness, and Carlisle said Porzingis planned to receive an MRI sometime Sunday to determine his availability for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Leonard had 32 points on a 10 of 22 clip and Lou Williams added a playoff career- high 36 points.
Though Doncic cleared the air beforehand with Montrezl Harrell after having a run- in during Game 3, the Clippers continued to play physically with the Mavericks’ star.
“He gets hit a lot in games. He hits the floor a lot. He gets his arms raked. Frequently he has what looks like lacerations on his forearms,” Carlisle said of Doncic. “But there was nothing that was going to keep him from staying in the game. He kept telling me he was good.”
Doncic rolled his left ankle toward the end of the third quarter in Game 3. After leaving the court to retape his ankle and test out its strength, Doncic played for nearly three minutes to open the quarter before getting rankled because of his limited movement.
Doncic gave the Mavericks’ medical staff props after having an MRI on Saturday and completing a pregame warmup Sunday without any significant issues.
“Just a phenomenal effort. ... He has such great heart. If he felt anything close to decent I really thought he’d play today,” Carlisle said. “I wasn’t going to say that publicly, but that’s what this kid is about. ... Just a very special player. This game today was from another planet.”
Doncic, 21, had averaged 27.7 points, 8.7 assists and 8.3 rebounds in the first three games of the series. He missed 11 games earlier in the season with a strained right ankle and routinely absorbs hits with his aggressive style and tough play inside.
Said Carlisle: “He looked pretty good to me.”