Luka Doncic rescues Mavs with back-to-back stepback 3s in final minute

Luka Doncic drills the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining.

Rick Carlisle invoked the greats and decades of experience to explain the requisite mindset for conjuring the magic Luka Doncic cast upon the Boston Celtics on Tuesday in a 110-107 thriller.

“The wiring of people like Luka Doncic, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, guys that have this laser-like focus in these situations, it’s difficult to explain how their mind[s] work,” Carlisle said. “But from what I’ve seen over the years — and this is over three decades now — as the game gets tighter and the moment gets bigger, their focus is only on one thing, and that is succeeding with whatever the team needs; whether it’s the perfect pass for the assist, whether it’s great shot making. I’ve seen this time and time again and been victimized as a coach when guys like Kobe have hit shots. He’s a very rare breed of player. Not only does he have the laser-like focus, but he has the desire and all the tools to deliver.”

Doncic made that painfully clear to Boston over the last 15.8 seconds of the contest, as the 21-year-old capped his late heroics by nailing the game-winner with 0.1 ticks remaining. Surprisingly, Doncic’s game-winner marked his second go-ahead 3-pointer of the night in the final minute.

It came after Boston had just sliced through an 11-point deficit to seize a 105-104 lead with just 37.6 seconds remaining.

Doncic just as quickly erased it all in front of the 3,300 fans at American Airlines Center to send the Mavericks (15-15) back to .500 for the first time since Jan. 22.

Luka beats Celtics in legendary fashion Luka Doncic compares basketball to chess: “You gotta to take your time and see the moves.”

“Right after the game, I said, ‘Imagine if the whole crowd was there,’” Doncic said. “It would be an even better feeling. But today, there were a couple of fans, and [I] thank everybody for coming. It feels better having a couple of fans.”

After dribbling around extensively in what appeared to be a frantic possession, Doncic nailed the first long-range ball with 15.8 seconds remaining over the outstretched arms of Daniel Theis.

“Honestly, I was more confident in the first one. It felt good out of my hands,” Doncic said. “I was kind of tired just running around the whole possession. It got in, and that’s all that matters.”

Jaylen Brown would tie the game at 107 with 9.5 seconds left on a driving layup.

On Dallas’ next trip down the floor, Doncic knocked down the game winner with Kemba Walker and Aaron Nesmith contesting.

“The two shots that Luka hit down the stretch in the last minute were just phenomenal shots,” Carlisle said. “Both possessions were difficult. The first one was probably even more difficult than the second one because we were up against the clock, they had gone to a switching lineup, and he just hit just a tremendous one-on-one shot. The second one, we knew we had no timeouts. We knew we were getting the ball to him to let him create, and that stepback was right in front of me. When that thing went up in the air, it was right on line, and it was an amazing shot. Breathtaking stuff from Luka.”

With Kristaps Porzingis missing his second straight game due to lower back tightness, Doncic finished with a game-high 31 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Brown and Jayson Tatum produced 29 and 28 points, respectively.

Just five days away from his 22nd birthday, Doncic has already connected on 11-of-29 attempts to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime over the last three seasons. Doncic converted 6 of 11 in those situations in 2018-19, 3 of 13 last season and 2 of 5 through the first 30 games of the 2020-21 campaign. Doncic entered the game Tuesday 0 for 3 on shots to tie or take the lead in the final minute of regulation or OT.

He’s 39% in those situations over the last three seasons, while the league average is 35%.

The victory over Boston marked Doncic’s second career game-winning shot, and his first during the regular season. Remember, last season in the opening round of the playoffs, Doncic hit a buzzer-beater in OT during Game 4 against the LA Clippers in the NBA bubble.

“That was nuts,” said Jalen Brunson, who scored 16 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead a Dallas bench that outscored Boston’s reserves 51-19. “Just watching [Doncic], he’s obviously very good to say the least. He’s bringing us together and we’re on the right track now. We’ve just got to keep it going. We’ve got to keep playing for each other and have a short-term [memory] because we have a big opponent coming up next.”

By defeating the Celtics, the Mavericks have now won six of their last seven games headed into a three-game road trip out East, which starts Thursday at the Philadelphia 76ers, and concludes on Mar. 1 against the Orlando Magic.

Dallas guard Josh Richardson thinks the performance against Boston might serve the Mavericks well in the postseason.

“It’s huge,” Richardson said. “I don’t really know how much playoff experience a lot of these guys on this team have, but I’ve been in a few series a few different years. I know that most of those games come down to shots like that. So, I think for us to go through something like we did today, where we had a little lead in the fourth, they fought back and we just had to figure out a way to grind a win out is gonna come back on the tail end and be good for us.”

As for Doncic, as good as Tuesday night felt, he shrugged it off as business as usual.

“It’s just something I’ve been doing,” Doncic said. “Sometimes, two people go at me, [and] I have to pass it. Sometimes, you’re gonna miss it like the last game against Portland. Sometimes, you’re gonna make it.”

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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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