Dallas sensation Luka Doncic finished a remarkable five-game winning streak with 51 points, and the Mavericks needed every one of them to defeat the San Antonio Spurs.
Dallas defeated San Antonio 126-125 on Saturday night thanks to Doncic’s two rebounds and two free throws in the final 4.5 seconds. This was Dallas’ sixth straight win.
In the previous five games, Doncic had three 50-point performances, including a 60-point, 21-rebound, and 10-assist performance against the Knicks on Tuesday night that required overtime. He is the only NBA player to ever have 250 points, 50 rebounds, and 50 assists over the course of five games.
“It’s incredible,” Mavericks center Christian Wood said. “In my seven years in the league, I’ve never seen anybody do what he’s able to do. He’s on an incredible run. He’s playing like an MVP. Clearly one of the best players in the league.”
Wood added 25 points in Dallas’ fifth straight victory over San Antonio. Keldon Johnson had 30 points for Sam Antonio, Jeremy Sochan added 20 and Jakob Poeltl had 19 points and 15 rebounds. After leading by 17 points, the Mavericks had to scramble in the final minute.
San Antonio guard Tre Jones was fouled by Dallas forward Davis Bertans after Jones intentionally missed the second of two free throws with the Spurs trailing 126-124. Jones then made the first free throw, but missed the second.
Doncic missed two free throws with 1.5 seconds to keep San Antonio from attempting a game-winning shot.
“Not easy to win here,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “But, again, Luka was incredible. He bails us out again by missing the free throws as much as he wanted to make those free throws down the stretch, so that they didn’t have time to set up a play.”
