StatMan | Episode 87: Luka Doncic is Top 5 Player in the NBA

The first chapter in the book of Luka Doncic Legend was written on a Sunday afternoon, when Doncic capped off an all-time playoff performance with an overtime buzzer-beating triple to tie the Mavericks’ first-round series with the Los Angeles Clippers at two games apiece.

Doncic took the shot defenses want him to take at this time in his short NBA career, a leaning, step-back three. But moments often transcend numbers, and sometimes it takes only a sliver of daylight to turn a ho-hum, go-home-in-five series into a dogfight.

Even more than putting a scare into the favored Clippers, Doncic has put the NBA on notice: This feels like Tiger’s “Hello world” or Jordan at the Boston Garden in 1986, a moment when you know something special is on the way.

Doncic’s historic performance puts him in a room entered only by Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley — at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff game — with a jaw-dropping 43-point, 17-rebound, 13-assist showing — all while being a game-time decision on a sprained ankle he sustained in Game 3.

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