Luka Legend

Forty-three points. Seventeen rebounds. Thirteen assists.

Nagawa lahat iyan ni Luka Doncic while playing with a bum left ankle sa Game 4 ng kanilang best-of-seven series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

But most importantly he led the Mavericks from 21 points down to an improbable 135-133 overtime win, capped by his game-winning trey at the buzzer.

Only two players delivered a 40-15-10 line in NBA playoffs history – Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley. Pero tanging si Doncic lang ang nakapagposte ng at least 43-17-13.

Sa edad na 21, siya rin ang youngest player to have a game-winner at the buzzer sa kasaysayan ng NBA playoffs.

The background story of this game made his performance even more impressive. Game-time decision kung maglalaro si Doncic dahil nga sa kanyang left ankle injury na natamo sa Game 3. Late scratch din sa laro ang second best player ng Dallas na si Kristaps Porzingis dahil sa kanyang sore left knee.

Pati ang mga kilalang NBA personalities ay napabilib sa performance ni Doncic na nagtabla sa kanilang serye with the Clippers at 2-2.

Kabilang sa mga nagpahayag ng kanilang paghanga sina LeBron James, Steph Curry, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Love at ang ka-batch ni Doncic sa Rookie Draft last season na si Trae Young.

Marami ang nag-predict na madaling matatapos ng Clippers ang serye against the Mavericks at hindi mo sila masisisi dahil na-sweep ng una ang huli during the regular season.

Doncic and the Mavericks are proving them wrong.

Nalimutan na yata nila na hindi karaniwang sophomore player si Doncic. He is a veteran in professional basketball and battle-tested sa malalaking laro. In 2018, a teenaged Doncic was named the Final Four MVP sa EuroLeague.

Hindi natin alam kung hanggang saan aabot ang Dallas this postseason, but it will be a fun team to watch for a very long time for sure.