PHOENIX — Do not confuse this as a direct comparison. Luka Doncic trails Michael Jordan by six NBA championship rings along with many other honors and accolades. There is a long, long road to travel here when it comes to all that matters. But what you are looking at these days in a No. 77 uniform for the Dallas Mavericks is one true scoring machine.
They do not hand out certificates for scoring 45 in a playoff loss as Doncic did here Monday night. In the future — which begins Wednesday at 9 p.m. CDT — the Mavericks would be better served to get 30 from Luka and 20 each from Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie if they hope to even their second-round series with the Phoenix Suns. Getting 45 from Luka and 21 points on 9-for-24 shooting from Brunson and Dinwiddie is not the preferred path as we saw in a 121–114 loss at Footprint Center.
But about those 45 points…
It was the most points ever scored by an NBA player in his first second-round game in the four-round history of the league. Doncic has scored 40 or more six times in his playoff career. That’s six times in 17 games. That’s more times than two-time MVP and reigning playoff champ Giannis Antetokounmpo. That’s more times than three-time MVP and three-time NBA champ Larry Bird.
That’s more times than a lot of people.
Doncic raised his playoff average to 33.4 points per game Monday night. If that number sounds vaguely familiar to your NBA brain, it is because the only player in league history to average 30 points per playoff game is Jordan and his 33.4. Technically, Jordan is listed at 33.45 and Doncic is hovering around 33.41. So, yes, there is some road still to travel.
But on a list of of all-time greats and current stars that have played in at least 25 playoff games — one Doncic will not qualify for until next round or next year — the numbers begin to inform us as to just how other-worldly Luka’s scoring really is. Phoenix’s leading scorer, Devin Booker, who had a 70-point regular season game early in his career, sits at 26.7. Golden State’s Steph Curry, whose scoring range extends roughly to midcourt, checks in at 26.5. Last year’s MVP (and perhaps this season’s), Denver’s Nikola Jokic, is at 26.6, and Giannis is right there at 26.
Inching higher — just below Jordan and Allen Iverson’s 29.7 is Kevin Durant with a 29.4 average. LeBron James is not far behind at 28.7, and bear in mind that’s over 266 games — a little more than three full regular seasons. In case you were wondering, the guy with the statue shooting a one-legged jumper outside American Airlines Center averaged 25.3 for his playoff career.
And, just in case you were wondering, like I was: Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 30 points per game in the regular season, had a career 22.5 scoring average in the playoffs.
Luka exists on a different plane when it comes to scoring, but that is, in part, because many teams want him to shoot. Or at least they willingly allow it. Unlike most of the players on this list, Doncic is no stranger to 10-assist games. And, odd as it sounds, Phoenix is more concerned with his passing to the 3-point line out of penetration than his ability to fill the basket with two-pointers.
“Anytime a guy has 45 against you, you look at that number and you don’t like it,’’ Suns Coach Monty Williams said. “But you look at their system and nobody else got going. I just don’t like the way we guarded him when he got into the paint.’’
Keep in mind Doncic scored 45 against the Suns without shooting particularly well. The first three Dallas possessions of the game were Luka miss, Luka turnover, Luka turnover as Phoenix grabbed a 9-0 lead before the Mavs even got untracked. He made half his shots (15 of 30), under 40% of his 3s (4 of 11) and just under 80% from the foul line (11 of 14). It just makes me wonder when 50 is coming and how far off 60 might be.
Not that any of that is head coach Jason Kidd’s No. 1 goal for Game 2.
“He got whatever he wanted, when you look at shots in the paint, behind the arc, midrange … I thought he played great,’’ Kidd said. “We’ve just got to get someone to join the party.’’
The Mavericks’ fourth quarter surge in which they reduced what had been a 21-point lead to five with just under a minute to play suggests they can still make a series of this tangle with the defending Western Conference champs. And for that to happen, balance is the wiser pursuit than individual scoring records. Dallas is 2-4 in the six playoff games in which Luka has scored 40 or more points. A little more Brunson could go a long way Wednesday night.
In the meantime, it’s worth noting that, when it comes to filling up a scoresheet, Doncic is going where only one other player has ever been.
