By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
After suffering six defeats in seven outings, the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic focused on bouncing back from a three-game homestand. Recording a triple-double with at least 30 points for a fifth straight game and at least 35 points in four straight outings, he settled for second place.
“It’s great, especially when it comes to winning” the Slovenian star answered a question about the possibility of becoming the second player after Russell Westbrook to achieve five triple-doubles of 35 points in a row, “That’s all that matters right now.”
Doncic, 25, had 35 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists against the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Center on Thursday. His 15th triple-double of the 2023-24 NBA regular season and 71st of his career.
Recently returning to action after missing a month due to injury, Dante Exum added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds in 17 minutes.
“An incredible performance, especially on the final straight. He was absent for many matches. It’s hard to come back. But he was incredible throughout the sequence. Doncic praised his teammate, one of Partizan Mozzart Bet’s main players throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
The team coached by Jason Kidd improved to 35-28. Ranked eighth in the Western Conference standings, a distance of two games from the top six spots leading directly to the playoffs and seven games from the lower end of the Play-In zone seems to naturally slide toward the higher seeds in the ranking.
