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Luka Doncic puts up 42, records yet another triple-double to lead Mavericks past Spurs

Luka Doncic isn’t slowing down in his sophomore campaign in the league.

Doncic finished with yet another triple-double on Monday night, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 117-110 win against the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center with a career-high 42 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.

At 20 years old, he’s now just the second-youngest player in NBA history to record a 40-point triple-double behind just LeBron James.

“This guy can do anything he wants to on a basketball court,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said, via Fox Sports Southwest. “He’s having just one of those magical runs right now. It’s a phenomenal thing to watch. It’s a phenomenal thing to be apart of. His teammates, we’re all just kind of along for the ride here.”

Dallas led throughout the entire contest on Monday night, and built up a quick 18-point lead in the first quarter. Doncic didn’t waste any time getting started, either, scoring 17 points himself in the opening period.

“Today when I slept, the nap, I dreamed I was going to score 16 in the first quarter,” Doncic said. “Then I scored 17, so I was like, ‘Dreams don’t come true.’”

While the Spurs slowly battled back, and cut the lead to just two points with 30 seconds left in the game, Doncic was there to seal the deal in the end, drilling a stepback 3-pointer over Spurs guard Bryn Forbes.

Dorian Finney-Smith had a career high of his own on Monday night, finishing with 22 points for the Mavericks after shooting 8-of-10 from the field. Kristaps Porzingis had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jalen Brunson added 11 points off the bench.

DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 36 points and eight rebounds, shooting 14-of-20 from the field. LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points, and Forbes put up 13. The loss marked the sixth straight for San Antonio, too.

Even though he’s just 13 games into the season, and it’s still only November, Doncic has solidified himself among the early league MVP candidates this year. He’s now recorded six triple-doubles this season, two in the past week alone. He’s nearly averaging that mark, too, with 29.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game in Dallas.

While it’s an impressive start, Carlisle is aware that it (likely) won’t last forever. He knows it’s his job, though, to make sure Doncic doesn’t burn out.

“In the big picture, this is an awful lot to ask of a guy at 20 years old. Let’s be honest,” Carlisle said, via Fox Sports Southwest. “It’s hard to fathom how much that production takes out of you in an NBA game. It’s just a lot. It’s a lot emotionally. It’s a lot of weight to carry. As we move along, finding balance just to help Luka with the load is an important thing and I’m looking at that all the time.”

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