Larry Legend now has a little brother: Luka Legend, Dallas Mavericks superhero
With all due respect to Larry Legend, the NBA’s current era has best clear shelf space for Luka Legend.
What Luka Doncic did on Sunday is the stuff of NBA Gods. Men like Larry Bird, Willis Reed, Michael Jordan and a few others did what Luka really did in the back yard of make believe, Disney World.
Trailing by one point in overtime with 3.7 seconds remaining, Doncic hit a step-back 3-pointer from 27 feet at the buzzer to win.
In the condensed words of LA Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell, Luka is one bad a-- white boy.
The shot completed Doncic’s second triple-double in four career playoff games: 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists, all on one sprained left ankle.
Despite the injury, Doncic started and led the Mavs back to one of their most improbable playoff wins ever. The Mavs defeated the LA Clippers 135-133 in overtime to win Game 4 of their first round NBA Western Conference series to tie it at 2-2.
“He sees the game in 6G, not 5G. This game was from another planet,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said in a Zoom call with the media after the game. “This is a game that will go down in history in some form as one of the great games a second-year player has ever played.”
With all due respect to Mavericks greats Derek Harper, Ro Blackman, and Dirk Nowitzki, what Luka did on Sunday is perhaps the greatest playoff performance in the 40-year history of the franchise.
According to ESPN Stats, “Doncic and Michael Jordan are the only players in NBA postseason history to cap a 40-point performance with a buzzer beater while trailing. Jordan did it in 1989 when he hit “The Shot” over Craig Ehlo.”
“I can’t explain the emotions,” Doncic said in a Zoom call interview with the media. “Not only when the ball goes in, but when I see my whole team running towards me. That was something special. One of the best feelings I’ve ever had as a player.”
The only thing missing is that this game should have been played at the American Airlines Center. Can you imagine this game, with this shot, played in front of a home crowd?
Game 5 is Tuesday.
Center Kristaps Porzingis missed the game with a sore knee, and the Mavs trailed in the second quarter by 21 points. They had the look of a team that wanted to be done with the Disney bubble, and was ready to go home.
Doncic wasn’t having it.
The Mavs slowly chipped away at the 21-point lead, and only trailed at the half by eight.
In the third quarter, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry all continued to make shots and the Mavs outscored Los Angeles, 35-19.
The Mavs did not have their second-leading scorer, and they still kept coming. Carlisle said Porzingis has not been ruled out for Game 5.
Although LA only got nine points from All-Star Paul George, who continues to have a miserable series, reserve Lou Williams and Kawhi Leonard shot the Clippers back into the game.
Leonard scored 32, and Williams had 36 points.
The Mavs blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead, and Williams tied the game at 121 with 50 seconds remaining.
Typically, this area of the game has killed the Mavs all season. They were horrible closing out close games throughout the season.
In the final minute, the teams traded misses, and bad possessions, and it went to overtime.
In the overtime, Doncic dominated. He tied the game on a 7-foot shot with 50 seconds remaining.
With 19 seconds remaining, he made a driving layup for a 132-130 lead.
After the Clippers’ Marcus Morris made a 3-point shot with 9 seconds remaining, it was all set for Doncic.
A crossover, a step back, and a high arching shot into history, and Larry Legend has a twin brother.
This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 6:26 PM.
