Luka Doncic makes history but Mavs can’t hold off Raptors late
Luka Doncic smiled and deferred.
You could tell the 19-year-old rookie was pleased, but after the Dallas Mavericks lost 123-120 to the Toronto Raptors Sunday evening at American Airlines Center, he wasn’t in a celebrating mood.
Doncic became the first teenager in NBA history to record two triple-doubles in a season after scoring a career-high 35 points, grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. Doncic’s first triple-double came Monday at Milwaukee.
Doncic’s most complete NBA performance so far, however, wasn’t enough to hold off the Raptors, who shot 50 percent from the 3-point arc (17 of 34). The Mavericks’ free-throw shooting (23 of 34 for 67.6 percent) also burned them down the stretch.
“One of [my] top performances, for sure,” said Doncic, 19, who quickly downplayed the accomplishment because it came in a loss. “We didn’t get a win. For it to be special, we need to get a win.”
Dallas, which begins a three-game road trip on Wednesday against the New York Knicks, turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter. The Mavs outscored the Raptors 30-15 and led 88-85 to start the fourth. Toronto shot just 21.1 percent in the quarter and hit one 3-pointer after making 11 of 20 in the first half.
But the Raptors’ offense woke up again in the fourth as they made 13 of 20 shots, including five of seven 3s. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for Dallas.
“Unfortunately, the fourth looked more like the first half,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, who took the blame for the team’s shooting struggles when the Raptors went to a zone defense in final quarter. “70 in the first half is way too many. We’ve got to have more force throughout the entire game. Down the stretch we didn’t do well against their zone. That’s totally a coaching thing. That’s on me. I take responsibility for the loss.”
Doncic said he doesn’t keep tabs on his milestones, including 30-point games. He had his sixth, which is tied for the fourth-most by a teenager in NBA history. He’ll tie Kevin Durant for third-most 30-point games if he scores 30 again before turning 20 on Feb. 28.
“It was special but it would be more special if we got the win,” he said.
Dallas is back home Feb. 6 against the Hornets.
