Luka Doncic Passes LeBron James and Ties Michael Jordan in Stunning Playoff Stat
By Peter Dewey
Luka Doncic is having a postseason for the ages. The Dallas Mavericks' superstar scored 42 points and tallied 14 assists in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Clippers to lead the Mavs to a 105-100 win and a 3-2 series lead.
First off, I’d like to admit that I was wrong not to trust Luka last night with his nagging neck injury, as he put on a performance that was almost as impressive as Damian Lillard’s 55-point game earlier this week.
Doncic assisted or scored on 31 of the Mavs’ 37 baskets, and he put himself amongst the names of LeBron James and Michael Jordan with his scoring prowess.
in what might be one of the more absurd statistical individual playoff performances in a while, Luka Doncic just scored or assisted 31 of Dallas' 37 total field goals made in a 105-100 win.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) June 3, 2021
here they are, in order from start-to-finish: pic.twitter.com/7Y9kmhi2fM
That’s right, Doncic passed James for the most 40-point playoff games by age 22, and he tied Jordan for the most 40-point playoff games in the first 11 games of a player’s playoff career.
Most 40-point games thru first 11 career #NBAPlayoffs games
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) June 3, 2021
Luka Doncic: 4
Michael Jordan: 4
Wilt Chamberlain: 4
Luka Doncic recorded his 4th 40-point game in the playoffs..scored against 8 different primary defenders’ most success coming against Paul George (5-of-6 for 13 points) pic.twitter.com/XIPaCaPASC
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) June 3, 2021
Whenever you are mentioned in the same breath as MJ and LeBron, you know you’ve done something special.
Doncic, despite his neck injury, has been absolutely dominant in the first round. He’s averaging 35.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range. He’s made five or more 3s in four of the five games in the series, and the Mavs have -165 odds on WynnBET to win the series.
Despite being favored to win the series, Dallas finds itself as a 2.5-point underdog in Game 6 at home. While it may come as a surprise that the Mavs aren’t favored in their own building, the road team has won all five games in this series.
The Clippers were thought to be one of the favorites in the West heading into this series, but Doncic’s play has them fighting for their playoff life. Luka will look to continue his amazing playoff start on Friday in Dallas.