Luka Doncic’s historic triple-double is unbelievable even to the NBA’s greatest players

Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Everyone agrees Luka is on another level.

The NBA season can be a long, arduous journey. You play back-to-back often, four games in five nights occasionally, and once in a while, only have eight to nine players available for a game. Most games come and go, and fans don’t give it a second thought. Tuesday’s matchup between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks was not any ordinary old night.

The Knicks led most of the game over the Mavs by 10 heading into the fourth quarter. Luka Doncic was still doing Luka things well on his way to another triple-double, but nothing earth-shattering, at least when it comes to Luka’s standards. The Knicks seem to have the game well in hand with an insurmountable nine-point lead with only 33.2 seconds left. Teams were 0-13,884 in the last 20 seasons, trailing by nine points with 35 seconds or less remaining. That was until Tuesday night when Luka and the Mavericks pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the NBA.

With four seconds left, the Knicks intentionally fouled Luka to prevent him from possibly tying the game with a three. Nine times out of ten, this is the right move. In this case, it was the right move, but there was a problem. The Knicks forgot you do have to rebound the ball on missed free throws. So Luka purposely missed the second free throw. It bounced around and somehow ended up in Luka’s hand, and of course, he nailed an 11-footer to send the game to overtime miraculously.

Luka Doncic would score seven points and two rebounds in overtime and finish with 60 points, 20 rebounds, and ten assists! Yes, those are real numbers, not video game numbers. We had seen a 60-point triple-double before this game. James Harden had the first such game in 2018 vs. the Magic. Harden put up 60 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, which at the time seemed to be stats that would never be duplicated. Well, not only did Luka become the second player to join the 60-point triple-double club, but he actually surpassed Harden’s remarkable feet. Luka finished with 60 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists.

We see remarkable things as fans all the time in sports and the NBA, but some games are so impressive that even fellow NBA players are amazed. When some of the best athletes in the world are shocked and amazed at a performance, you know it is special. Here are some of the reactions to last night’s historical performance.

Kevin Garnett thinks the Mavericks will unveil another statue next to the newly unveiled Dirk statue.

Kevin Durant points out how absurd those numbers were.

Paul Pierce took it a step further, proclaiming Luka the best offensive player in the league today.

Professional players aren’t known to heap this type of praise on other players for a game in December, but as you can see, this was no ordinary game. When you factor in, it was at Madison Square Garden, which added to the night’s historic nature. If you take any of those numbers, especially the rebounding and scoring, and look at them separately, that is still a great game, but all of them together is truly remarkable.

Everyone around the sports world was in awe of Luka night except one person. Here is Luka after the game.

After last night’s performance, I think it’s safe to say he earned that beer.