It was supposed to be the coming out party of Quentin Grimes. It was supposed to be a signature win by the young, shorthanded New York Knicks.
Instead, they were reduced to a footnote of a historic night of greatness from the Dallas Mavericks’ generational star Luka Doncic.
Doncic willed the Mavericks to an improbable 126-121 overtime win Tuesday night in Dallas that snapped the Knicks’ six-game winning streak on the road and extended their losing streak to four.
What stood between the Knicks and a signature win for their young core was Doncic’s 60-point, 21-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, the first of its kind in NBA history.
Doncic poured in 25 points and 12 rebounds in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the Mavericks’ historic comeback from a nine-point deficit with 33.9 seconds left in the regulation.
No NBA team has lost over the last 20 seasons when leading by nine with 35 or fewer seconds remaining, per ESPN Stats Info, until Tuesday night.
“It’s tough. It’s a shame we didn’t come out with a win.”
Tom Thibodeau postgame via NBA.com
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd ran out of superlatives to praise Doncic’s historic night. But the one that stuck was ‘there’s no quit in this kid.’
“Things were not going well. Give the Knicks credit. They were making a lot of threes that we didn’t think was possible. They were playing harder. … to be able to stay together and trust [each other], Luka was a big part of that. He was never discouraged when [everybody thought] the game was over.”
Jason Kidd postgame via NBA.com
Grimes finished with a career-high 33 points in 48 minutes as he stepped up for RJ Barrett, who exited the game with a lacerated finger 1:36 into the game. Immanuel Quickley dished out a career-high 15 assists after replacing Jalen Brunson, who was out with a hip injury, in the starting lineup. McBride came one point shy of matching his career-best with 14 points, sinking 5 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Mitchell Robinson was a monster with 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Julius Randle tried to carry them with 29 and 18 rebounds.
Six of the eight-man rotation Thibodeau used after Barrett went down with injury were 24 and younger, yet they were one box-out away from taking down Doncic and the Mavericks.
“I thought we were playing well. [We] Didn’t close out the last 30 seconds of the game.”
Tom Thibodeau postgame via NBA.com
Their inexperience showed in the final moments of the regulation and overtime. Charge it to experience.
No shame in losing to Doncic on his historic night. Only lessons learned.
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