Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic raised his already sensational game to new heights this season, and he continued his big-time production in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Although he wasn’t at his best in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, he did score 30 points while grabbing 10 rebounds, which is the type of production he has put forth in both categories for a few years now.
In doing so, he joined the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry as the only guards in the last 15 years to record 30 points and 10 rebounds in a championship game, per StatMuse.
The only guards with a 30p/10r game in the Finals in the last 15 years: pic.twitter.com/gxH6KCGpBL
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 7, 2024
Murray did it in Game 3 of last year’s championship series against the Miami Heat, while Curry got it done in Game 4 of the 2022 series.
Those Warriors were able to overcome a 2-1 series deficit against the Boston Celtics to win it all, and Doncic’s Mavs now trail the Celtics 1-0 after Thursday’s 107-89 defeat.
Doncic got very little help — his star backcourt mate Kyrie Irving went just 6-of-19 and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, and no one else on the team had more than 14 points.
Meanwhile, Boston had a balanced attack with six players scoring in double figures while seven men hit at least two 3-pointers.
This series is far from being over, especially when one considers how deadly Doncic is in crunch time, and all it will take is a Dallas win and a great Doncic performance in Game 2 to instantly change the complexion of this matchup.
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NBA Insider Calls Out Mavericks Star Following Ugly Game 1
