In the no-rest-for-the-weary NBA, Luka Dončić went back to work Saturday after his historic 73-point night in Atlanta on Friday.
Perhaps never before has a triple-double seemed like a comedown.
On a night when he was merely terrific, Dončić piled up another incredible statistical night, but it wasn’t enough to get the Mavericks to the victory column. They couldn’t muster enough help for their superstar and the Sacramento Kings held on for a 120-115 victory at American Airlines Center.
Dončić finished with 28 points, 17 assists and 10 rebounds, the 65th triple-double of his career and the ninth this season.
“I’m tired. I can’t wait to go to sleep, honestly,” Dončić said when asked how he felt. “It’s hard. It was less than 24 hours. I played like 90 minutes. It was a lot. Obviously, I was questionable, but I wanted to play.”
Luka was questionable because of his right ankle, which he said is “all right.'”
Coach Jason Kidd said before the game that he told Dončić after Friday’s monumental game in Atlanta that the Mavericks might need another one like it against the Kings.
If anybody could have come up with a repeat, it would have been Luka. The will and passion were there. The shooting was not, at least not to the level it was on Friday.
“When you look at what he’s done in the last 48 hours, he’s averaging a triple-double, averaging a million points, he’s doing everything we’re asking,” Kidd said after the game. “We just got to find him some help and be consistent with the help.
“We’re asking him to do everything. And he’s trying.”
In the span of about 27 hours, Luka averaged 50.5 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for two games.
Perhaps predictably, the Mavericks had a letdown on the second night of back-to-back games after an emotional and monstrous night in Atlanta. Sacramento took advantage in a big way to build a 22-point lead in the second half.
From there, the Mavericks chipped away, but never could dig all the way out of that hole. That they got it close at the end was commendable with many players logging heavy minutes in back-to-back games.
The Mavericks trailed throughout the second half, usually by double-figures. They trimmed the cap to 110-100 with four minutes left, but a Kevin Huerter three-pointer stopped the Mavericks’ momentum.
They continued to fight and a Dereck Lively II slam off a Luka feed made it 114-108 with two minutes left. But Tim Hardaway Jr. missed a corner three and another Mavericks’ turnover allowed a De’Aaron Fox layup and two free throws for Fox. He would finish with 34 points. Though the Mavericks scored seven consecutive points to make it 118-115 with 7.2 seconds left, they never got the chance to tie or take the lead.
“The group fought on the second night after a historic night last night,” Kidd said. “The energy was inconsistent, but that group at the end kept fighting. There’s a lot of character in that locker room.”
Grant Williams had a career-best 27 points in support of Luka. But he said there was one big difference between his career performance and Luka’s 24 hours earlier.
“He got a win on his. That’s more impressive,” Williams said. “But I was proud of the guys how we battled. Second night of a back-to-back we could have easily let that game go. But guys fought to the end. We gave ourselves an opportunity. We just didn’t capitalize.”
The aftereffects of Luka’s legendary night in Atlanta were hard to ignore. But the Mavericks did give themselves a chance to win down the stretch.
“I think we fought well,” Luka said. “I’m proud of how this team fought. Obviously, we didn’t get the win, but I thought we fought well.”
When a player goes off for 73 points – tied for fourth-most in a game in NBA history – it’s easy to have a bit of a hangover.
Fortunately, part of that residual effect did not include sitting Dončić against the Kings. Not that it wasn’t discussed.
He played more than 90 minutes combined in the games on Friday and Saturday.
“He’s out there trying to do it by himself,” Kidd said. “That’s who he is. He loves to take on the world.
“Unfortunately, he didn’t shoot the ball like he did last night, but there in the last four minutes, we started to get our rhythm and it becomes a two-possession game. To play him 46 minutes, that’s something we talk about. At some point, that game was out of hand almost. Those guys didn’t stop playing. They kept fighting. So his minutes got extended.”
And he was the catalyst that got the Mavericks back in the game, which wasn’t a surprise to Kings’ coach Mike Brown, who has been around the NBA block long enough to know about things like 73-point games.
“You’re not stopping him,” Brown said of Luka. “It’d be hard for anybody to average 73, (but) can he get it again? For sure. For sure he can. He can get it almost easily against any team.”
Briefly: The Mavericks continue to fight the injury bug. And the bug is winning. Kyrie Irving missed his third consecutive game with a sprained right thumb. Dante Exum (right knee soreness), Derrick Jones Jr. (left wrist sprain) and Dwight Powell (left eye abrasion) all were out, too, meaning that nearly half of the usual nine-man rotation was missing . . . While Jones was out, Kidd said the Mavericks dodged a bullet when he came down hard on his wrist after a move to the basket. It looked bad when it happened. “I think that’s the positive way to look at it,” Kidd said. “We did get lucky. It could have been a lot worse.” . . . Kidd on whether he allowed himself to digest the 73-point outing by Luka: “Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a day when we can reflect on what happened and spend a little more time on what Luka did. From the start to the end, he was locked in. His response when things tend not to go well has always been a positive.”
X: @ESefko
Share and comment