It wasn’t the 38 points, the 11 bounce back or the 10 assists from Luka Doncic that most dazzled his mentor on Monday night.
It was his balance. However, the generation didn’t hurt either.
Doncic scored 21 points in the second from last quarter and had his NBA-leading eleventh triple-double of the season to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Chicago Bulls 118-110 Monday night.
Doncic scored 17 of the Mavs’ 19 points in the last 5:35 of the third to break open what had been a tie game. His 3 gave Dallas a 72-69 lead it would not give up.
“I thought tonight the most impressive thing about his game was his demeanor and his disposition and his poise,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Teams are sending athletic guys to be physical and banging him, and he stayed level-headed.”
The 20-year-old scored at least 20 in a quarter for the second time this season. He hit three 3s over that decisive stretch and scored four different times on drives to the basket, including a rainbow floater that banked in as he was getting fouled. His only blip was missing the subsequent free throw.
“For me, all that matters is we got to win,” Doncic said. “We needed that win coming from a loss (in overtime to Charlotte on Saturday) that we should have won. My team is helping a lot. We just played tough from the start to the end and that’s how it’s got to be.”
