Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic had one of the best performances of his brief career in the NBA on Saturday night, as the young Mavs stud helped lift his team against the visiting Houston Rockets.
Following the 107-104 win, opposing team coach Mike D’Antoni admitted that Doncic was too hot to handle for the Rockets, especially in the dying minutes of the ballgame.
“I thought we played well,” Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said, via ESPN. “I think the good news out of all this is that if we play with that intensity, we’re going to win a lot of games. Having said that, Doncic did it to us right toward the end.”
The 19-year-old had an amazing game, scoring a team high 21 points (tied with Wesley Matthews), along with three three-pointers, seven rebounds, one assist, and three steals in 32 minutes of action. Doncic also went 7-of-17 from the field and sank four out of his five attempts from the charity stripe.
However, what stood out the most for the Serbian on the evening was the 11 straight points he scored in the final two minutes of the ballgame.
Prior to Doncic’s solo run, the Rockets were already up by eight points, and appeared to be on the brink of a road win against their Southwest rivals. Doncic had other ideas, though.
It was in this crucial two-minute stretch that Doncic drained all three of his three-pointers on the evening, with his innate ability to thrive in the clutch on full display. Games like these are exactly why many consider the former Real Madrid star to be this season’s runaway Rookie of the Year winner.
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