Luka Doncic hits game-winning 3-pointer in OT, leads Dallas to Game 4 win on injured left ankle
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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The large bag of ice was wrapped firmly around Luka Doncic’s sprained left ankle.
That ankle did not deter Doncic from playing and dominating. He led the Mavericks to a 135-133 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday in their first-round playoff series by finishing with 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists, to tie the series at 2-2.
His biggest points?
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They came on the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired.
“It obviously wasn’t 100 percent,” Doncic said of his ankle. “But I think it was good.”
So was Doncic’s performance, which Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said will “go down in history in some form as one of the great games a second-year player has ever played.”
Carlisle also compared Doncic to a former Hall-of-Fame point guard he coached (Jason Kidd) and a former Hall-of-Fame forward he played with (Larry Bird) after Doncic joined Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley as the only players in NBA history to have at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff game. Carlisle added “this game today was from another planet.”
“We know this kid has a flair for the dramatic and is a performer as well as a great player,” Carlisle said. “This is a guy that lives for these moments and is completely fearless. At the end, it was all about trying to get the ball in his hands.”
So with the Mavericks trailing the Clippers, 133-132, with 3.7 seconds left, Dallas forward Dorian Finney Smith inbounded the ball to Doncic. He had just cut toward the top of the key while Max Kleber set a downscreen on Clippers star Kawhi Leonard. Doncic picked up the pass, took a few dribbles and drilled a 27-foot step-back 3-pointer over guard Reggie Jackson.
“I feel like he could’ve gotten a better shot,” Mavericks guard Trey Burke said. “But hey man, he made it.”
Teammates mobbed Doncic at midcourt.
Doncic struggled to compare that shot to any other iconic NBA playoff moments since the Slovenian-born player did not watch many NBA games because of the time difference. Doncic sounded more firm on how this moment compared to his other career accomplishments after already playing professionally in Slovenia and winning last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year award.
“When I saw the whole team running toward me, it was something special,” Doncic said. “It’s one of the best things that has ever happened as a player.”
The performance became special for other reasons, too.
The Mavericks missed center Kristaps Porzingis because of right knee soreness, and Carlisle said he planned to receive an MRI sometime Sunday to determine his availability for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Leonard had 32 points on a 10-of-22 clip and Lou Williams added a playoff career-high 36 points. Though Doncic cleared the air beforehand with Montrezl Harrell after having a run-in during Game 3, the Clippers continued to play physically with the Mavericks’ star.
“He gets hit a lot in games. He hits the floor a lot. He gets his arms raked. Frequently he has what looks like lacerations on his forearms,” Carlisle said of Doncic. “But there was nothing that was going to keep him from staying in the game. He kept telling me he was good.”
Still, Doncic experienced plenty of on-court frustration in Game 4.
Doncic became irritated with the lack of calls, and an official issued him a technical with 4:03 left in the first quarter moments after those on the Clippers bench called for one. Doncic committed three first-quarter turnovers. And the Mavericks eventually trailed by as many as 21 points.
No matter. Doncic continuously played through the contact. After driving toward the basket on one play, Doncic stared down forward Marcus Morris Sr., who had exchanged shoves with him in Game 1. After making a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Doncic stared down the Clippers bench.
“I know they’re going to try to talk to me and get me out of the game. I think I’m doing a bad job,” Doncic said. “I still have to work on it. Just ignore it, just play basketball and enjoy it. It’s going to be like this every game.”
Doncic might be selling himself short. The Mavericks marveled at how he chased mismatches, with Carlisle saying that Doncic “sees the game in 5G.” Though the 21-year-old Doncic has already missed 11 games this season with a strained right ankle, the Mavericks like that he does not dial back his aggressive style and tough play inside.
Doncic rolled his left ankle toward the end of the third quarter in Game 3. After leaving the court to retape his ankle and test its strength, Doncic played for nearly three minutes to open the fourth quarter before getting rankled because of his limited movement. Doncic gave the Mavericks’ medical staff props after having an MRI Saturday and completing a pre-game warmup Sunday without any significant issues.
“He has such great heart. If he felt anything close to decent, I really thought he’d play today,” Carlisle said. “I wasn’t going to say that publicly, but that’s what this kid is about.”
Follow USA TODAY NBA writer Mark Medina on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside Luka Doncic game-winner over Clippers on injured left ankle. Mavericks’ coach: ‘Game was from another planet.’