The 2024 NBA season may only be two games old, but Mavericks guard Luka Dončić appears ready to enter a new level of superstardom.
Exhibit A: what the Slovenian sensation accomplished Friday evening in Dallas’s 125-120 victory over the Nets.
Dončić exploded for 49 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the victory—impressive enough on its own. However, the four-time All-Star paired his formidable line with the most productive three-point shooting night of his career, making nine of his 14 attempts from beyond the arc.
Four of Dončić's nine threes came in the final four minutes, capped by one of the most impressive shots of his career with 26.3 seconds left: a one-handed desperation heave banked off the backboard to beat a dying shot clock with Brooklyn forward (and former teammate) Dorian Finney-Smith hounding him.
LUKA MAGIC.
— NBA (@NBA) October 28, 2023
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU SAY.
4 straight threes... each getting progressively more difficult and more clutch... to reach 49 points and give Dallas the win.
Special stuff from a superstar. pic.twitter.com/4uCvy2Qdfe
The virtuoso performance followed a triple-double for Dončić in the Mavericks’ opener, a 126–119 win over the Spurs in Victor Wembanyama’s debut.
Dončić’s previous high for three-pointers in a game was eight, accomplished in Jan. 2020 against the Trail Blazers, March ’21 against Portland, and March ’22 against the Hornets.
