Luka Doncic earns high praise from Popovich in losing effort
Making shots, feeding assists and handling the ball with uncanny ease for a 19-year-old rookie has made Luka Doncic a phenomenon.
He showed all of that again Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Center, especially when the Dallas Mavericks were building an early 19-point lead.
What has impressed most around the NBA about Doncic, including grizzled veteran coaches such as the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, is Doncic’s placid manner. Popovich, one of the most respected men in the game, gushed about the rookie before the Spurs rallied for a 105-101 win Wednesday.
“I think his demeanor,” Popovich said. “He has a pace about him that is never frantic. He’s calm in everything that he does. He understands spatial relationships and understands where everybody is on the court, what’s needed at the time and he’s got courage. He’ll take big shots and do what needs to be done to try to win a basketball game.”
Doncic did that again in a losing effort against the Spurs. He twice drove the lane for baskets to pull the Mavs to within two with under four minutes remaining despite holding his right hand in pain. He fed DeAndre Jordan for an alley-oop to tie it at 96-96 with 2:39 remaining.
During the crucial stretch he grabbed two defensive rebounds. But 3-point attempts by Harrison Barnes, Wesley Matthews and Doncic missed and the Spurs wouldn’t go away.
Davis Bertans’ 3-pointer gave the Spurs a three-point lead and LaMarcus Aldridge’s tip-in with 1:07 left made it 101-96.
Down the stretch, Doncic ran the show for the Mavs and almost pulled off another miraculous recovery.
“He obviously attracts the respect of his teammates,” Popovich said. That’s pretty tough for a rookie to do as quickly as he did. All of that makes him one hell of a basketball player and person.”
After building a 23-4 lead in the first quarter, Dallas’ hot shooting cooled off at the end of the first half and into the second and the Spurs trailed by only five five with 5:38 left in the quarter.
Doncic again came close to recording his first triple-double, finishing with a game-high 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. It’s Doncic’s fifth consecutive game with 25 or more points.
He’s the first rookie to do that since Stephen Curry in 2009. The last Maverick to do it (rookie or not) was Dirk Nowitzki in March 2012.
“The young man is phenomenal,” Popovich said after the game. “He does a great job. Such great pace, skill. He’s got the whole package.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2019 at 10:28 PM.