J-Speaks: A Majestic Game 4 By The Mavericks Rising Star

 

Things looked pretty bleak after the Dallas Mavericks lost Game 3 of their First-Round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. It really became dire when they trailed by 21 points in the second quarter. The Mavericks rallied and thanks to their star player evened the series as the NBA’s newest star adding another chapter in his ever-growing legend.

A deep three-pointer from 28 feet at the buzzer by first-time All-Star Luka Doncic capped a triple-double of 43 points, 13 assists, and 17 rebounds as the Mavericks defeated the Clippers 135-133 in overtime on Sunday afternoon on ABC to tie their opening-round series at 2-2.

“I was just trying to make it, you know?”  Doncic said about his three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. “I can’t explain the emotions I had. Not only when the ball goes in but when I see the whole team like running towards me. That was something special, one of the best feelings I ever had as a player and just something special. This team is something special.”

Doncic registered his second straight triple-double-on a tender left ankle he injured in the 130-122 loss in Game 3 on Friday night on TNT, where he had a front end of his back-to-back triple-double performances of 13 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds. The 21-year-old Slovenian required around the clock treatment and pool workouts in the 48 hours leading up to Game 4.

But once he stepped on the floor, he knew he was good to go and Doncic had a stellar performance, which consisted of scoring 10 points in the second quarter and 13 points in the third quarter, to go along with five assists. He really tested that left ankle too with many jump stops, pivots and several impressive Euro-steps to gain separation from his defender throughout the game, which led to him going 18 for 31 from the field, including 4 for 10 from three-point range, with the fourth make from distance as mentioned being the one that won Game 4 for the Mavericks.

Doncic’s performance helped the No. 7 Seeded Mavericks register their biggest comeback win in the last two decades. Their previous best comeback came in Game 5 of the 2003 Western Conference Finals where they overcame a 19-point deficit against the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

The comeback was not all Doncic though. He got plenty of help from his teammates in Trey Burke who scored 25 points on 10 for 14 shooting, including 4 for 5 from three-point range. Tim Hardaway, Jr. had 21 points, while Seth Curry scored 15 and Bojan Marjanovic had 10 points and seven rebounds.

"Hey man, that's the Don. That's why they call him Luka 'Magic,'" Tim Hardaway, Jr. said during his postgame pressure about Doncic's game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. "I got nothing else to say. You guys call him Luka 'Magic.' I call him the Don." 

The Mavericks overcame that aforementioned 21-point first half deficit thanks to a 16-0 run in the third quarter to take the lead, and rose it to as high as 12 points in the fourth period before the Clippers rallied, and took the lead with around 09.0 seconds left in the extra period thanks to a left corner three-pointer by Marcus Morris.

That simply set it up for Doncic’s game-winning triple over Reggie Jackson that he connected on and was first mobbed by his teammates on the floor, and then got a water shower as he entered the locker room following his postgame interviews.

"He's such a smart player. He sees things before other people see them, and that's one of the reasons, you know, that he is so special. Not only the skill set, his strength, size, all that stuff but the way he computes the game. He sees the the game, you know, in 6G,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said in his postgame interview about Doncic comparing his ability to make reads to AT&T new 5G. “It’s not 5G, its 6G. It’s another level beyond what most people see it. So, you know, just a very, very special player, and this game today is, you know, is from another planet.”

What Doncic also showed was courage with that last second shot in overtime and the Mavericks showed for one of the rare times this season they can take care of business in the clutch. 

That last second shot showed that Doncic is not afraid to take that last second shot in the closing seconds that could decide the fate of his team's season. If he succeeds or fails, he at least will know he gave himself a chance. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Doncic had been 0 for 10 on the season on potential game-tying or go-ahead field goal attempts in the final minute of regulation and overtime. The Mavericks as a team, came in just 2-11 in one possession games.

Doncic knotted things up with 50 seconds left in overtime by hitting a floater off the backboard over Morris, Sr. He then gave the Mavericks the lead again on a drive to the basket over Jackson into the middle of the paint and finished with a layup off of a spin move. The Clippers as mentioned regained the lead when Morris, Sr. hit a corner triple off a pass from Leonard on his drive into the lane and kickout pass to Morris, Sr.

Following a timeout with 03.7 seconds left in overtime, Doncic received the inbounds pass on the midcourt NBA logo with Jackson on him again, which stemmed from he and Leonard switching defensive assignments following a pick. Doncic dribbled left, changed direction after dribbling the ball between his legs and crossing back over to his left before shooting a nearly 30-foot step-back triple that he made at the buzzer and put himself into the annals of NBA postseason lure. 

"He's a guy that lives for these moments, and is completely fearless," Coach Carlisle said of Doncic. "

Current Los Angeles Lakers four-time MVP and three-time NBA champion LeBron James while with the Cleveland Cavaliers hit a game-winning three-pointer in the opening-round versus the Indiana Pacers that defeated them 98-95 that capped a 44-point performance. The Cavaliers won that series in seven games. 

James tweeted about Doncic's buzzer beating triple @KingJames saying, "BANG BANG!! In my *Mike Breen voice." 

Reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs tweeted @PatrickMahomes about Luka's shot, "@luka7doncic is a monster man!!!"

Three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade, now a studio analyst for Turner Sports tweeted @DwyaneWade, "W O W!!!!!!! Luka we are not worthy!!!" 

Curry's older brother in two-time Kia MVP and three NBA champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors tweeted @StephenCurry30, "sheeesh @luka7doncic thats ridiculous...BLOUSES!!!" 

Two-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards tweeted @RealDealBeal23, "Invest in a step back!!"

Five-time All-Star Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers hit the longest game-winning buzzer beater at 36 feet in Game 5 of the First-Round of the 2019 Playoffs versus the Oklahoma City Thunder over ironically enough George that not only won the game (118-115) but ended the Thunder’s season and the Thunder careers of now Houston Rockets perennial All-Star Russell Westbrook, who got dealt from the Thunder last summer as well as George, who was traded to the Clippers. The Trail Blazers won the series 4-1 as Lillard’s game-winning bomb from three-point range capped a 50-point night.

Leonard, who was with the now defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors last season after he was traded from the Spurs had the hold your breath game-winner to cap a 40-point performance when in Game 7 of 2019 East Semifinals versus the Philadelphia 76ers that began with him driving baseline and then taking a fall away jumper right in front of the Raptors bench that hit the right side of the rim, bounced in the air, hit the rim four times and then dropped as the final buzzer to garner the Raptors a 92-90 win and sent them to the Eastern Conference Finals and the 76ers home for that summer. 

Doncic joined Michael Jordan, Leonard, James, and Lillard as the only five players in NBA Playoff history to put the cork on the bottle of a 40-point performance with a game-winner at the final buzzer to clinch victory. Doncic and Jordan are the only two players to do hit a buzzer beater to cap a 40-point night with their team behind. 

“When the shot left his hand, to be truthfully honest, I thought he could get a better shot,” guard Burke said of Doncic’s game-winning triple. “But hey, man, he ain’t need it. He ain’t need it. It’s a big win that we’re going to have to build off of.”

What made the performance even more special is that Kristaps Porzingis, who had 34 points, 13 rebounds on 11 for 18 from the field, including 5 for 9 from three-point range in the Game 3 loss was out for Game 4 with a right knee injury.   

One big question many had about Doncic is how would he do in his first trip to the playoffs, especially against a Clippers squad that is loaded with playoff experience and players in perennial All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and guard Patrick Beverly who can contain him.

While his performance of 42 points, the most in a playoff debut in NBA postseason history, on 13 for 21 shooting and 14 for 15 from the free throw line with nine assists and seven rebounds, Doncic committed 11 turnovers in the 118-110 loss at the Clippers in Game 1 on Aug. 17 on ESPN.

Doncic only had five turnovers in Game 2 in his effort of 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists going 4 for 7 from three-point range in leading the Mavericks to a 127-114 win at the Clippers two nights later to tie the series at 1-1.

He committed just one turnover in his aforementioned triple-double performance in the Game 3 loss, but played just 29 minutes again because he sprained his left ankle in the third quarter, going just 4 for 14 from the field, including 1 for 6 from three-point range, and just 4 for 10 from the free throw line as the Clippers really got after Doncic from a physical standpoint.

While he committed seven turnovers in Game 4, Doncic had command of things for the Mavericks, especially in the second half, displaying the kind of toughness and focus that helped him lead Real Madrid and the Slovenian national team to championships at the highest levels of European competition. 

This moment also proved to that the Mavericks are just a fearless about trading for Doncic's draft rights two seasons back. 

When Doncic was drafted No. 5 overall by the Atlanta Hawks, the scouting report on him was while he dazzled during that season playing in the EuroLeague winning Final Four MVP honors at the age 19 but there was the fear that Doncic reached his ceiling, and may not be able to adapt to the NBA from the physical standpoint. 

True to form, Doncic did not go No. 1 or No. 2 overall, as center DeAndre Ayton out of the University of Arizona did being selected by the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings selected Marvin Bagley III out of Duke University. Doncic was selected No. 3 overall by the Atlanta Hawks, but then traded him to the Mavericks for the draft rights to the No. 5 overall pick Trae Young out of the University of Oklahoma and what would be the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 draft, which turned out to be swingman Cam Reddish also out of Duke University. 

During ESPN "NBA: The Jump's" coverage of the 2018 NBA Draft that night and host Rachel Nichols kept saying during that broadcast how striking it was to see a plethora of NBA front offices choose to go the safer route selecting good players that went the conventional college route instead of selecting a player who showed on Sunday showed he was worth the risk. 

It is the franchise led by owner Mark Cuban that showed no fear that was rewarded and is in prime position for even greater rewards ahead. 

The Dallas Mavericks showed in Game 4 on Sunday, led by Luka Doncic showed that the postseason stage is not too big for them. When it came time to make the necessary plays to take down a championship caliber opponent in the Los Angeles Clippers they did, with Doncic making a majority of them.

That ability to make plays in the clutch will have to continue for the Mavericks if they plan on winning this series, which is now a best-of-three with Game 5 taking place on Tuesday night on TNT. 

"Luka Doncic has no fear," Nichols said on Monday's edition of "NBA: The Jump." "And isn't that fun for the rest of us." 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 8/18/2020 1 a.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” from Los Angeles, CA with Neil Everett and Stan Verrett; 8/23/2020 11:30 p.m. edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 8/23/2020 www.espn.com story, “Mavericks’ Luka Doncic Calls Historic Triple-Double, Game Winner ‘Something Special,’” by Tim MacMahon; 8/24/2020 4:30 a.m. "Sportscenter" on ESPNEWS John Buccigross and Kevin Connors; 8/24/2020 3 p.m. edition "NBA: The Jump" on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Richard Jefferson, and Scottie Pippen; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3945274/luka-doncic; and https://www.nba.com/games/20200823/LACDAL/#/recap.