‘I’m tired as hell,’ says Luka Dončić after making NBA history with record-breaking triple-double in the Dallas Mavericks’ win over the New York Knicks
By Matias Grez, CNN
Luka Dončić put up a historic triple-double in the Dallas Mavericks’ thrilling 126-121 overtime win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old recorded a career-high 60 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to go with 10 assists, helping the Mavericks come from nine points down with just 33 seconds of regulation time remaining.
It is the first time in NBA history that a player has reached that stat line.
“I’m tired as hell,” Dončić said after the game. “I need a recovery beer.”
In the past 20 seasons, all 13,884 NBA teams that have trailed by at least nine points with 35 seconds or fewer remaining have gone on to lose the game, according to ESPN.
However, in a dramatic final play, Dončić intentionally missed a free throw and then secured the rebound, before scoring the putback to tie the game and force overtime.
The Slovenian star scored 10 points in the final minute of regulation time and added seven more in overtime to pull off the most improbable of wins.
Dončić also joins James Harden as the only other player in NBA history to score a 60-point triple-double, and also becomes just the sixth player to record six or more 40-point triple-doubles after Oscar Robertson, Harden, Russell Westbrook, Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James.
“We just saw it on the screen right now,” Dončić said of his scoring feat. “We were watching NBA TV. I mean, it’s just incredible to be in those comparisons and just to be with those guys, at any stage. It’s amazing for me.”
Dončić’s 60 points also set a new franchise scoring record for Dallas, overtaking the 53 points scored by Dirk Nowitzki against Houston in 2004.
“Just with age, he has a birthday coming up here in the new year, I think he’s seen it all at the age of 23,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said of Dončić becoming a leader. “But just his competitiveness to win is at a very high level — and you saw that displayed tonight.
“Things weren’t going well. Give the Knicks credit, they were making a lot of threes that we didn’t think were possible. They were playing harder. We were down 10. We’ve been in this position earlier in the season, when you talk about giving up a lead or giving up a game like this.
“Just to be able to stay together and trust, Luka had a big part in that. He never was discouraged that the game was over. As you can see, he’s picking up full-court, we had a big jump ball. There’s a lot of things we’ve learned from our losses in close games like this.”
The Mavericks improve to 19-16 on the season and climb to sixth in the Western Conference, while the Knicks have now lost four straight to sit sixth in the East.
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