By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Luka Doncic is seemingly doing everything on the court. And while scoring 50 points on a nightly basis is amazing, it seems he has added another weapon to his offensive arsenal – a perfectly missed free throw.
Twice already we have seen Doncic miss free throws that were crucial for the Mavericks getting a win.
Everybody has seen the crazy sequence against the Knicks that started with a missed free throw.
Now Doncic has done it again against the Spurs.
The Slovenian sensation missed two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to keep San Antonio from attempting a game-winning shot.
“Not easy to win here,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “But, again, Luka was incredible. He bails us out again by missing the free throws as much as he wanted to make those free throws down the stretch so that they didn’t have time to set up a play.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had jokingly vowed that Doncic would be held under 50 points. The Mavericks star almost played along.
“No, I just wanted to get a win,” Doncic said of his 51-point outing.
But 51 points were nice, right?
“Of course,” Doncic said with a huge smile.
Doncic dominated San Antonio with his usual array of step-back, midrange jumpers, 3-pointers, and free throws. He was 18-for-28 from the field.
“Yeah, we had a good team effort and individual effort on him, but he’s an amazing player,” Popovich said. “His IQ is off the charts. So, we would rather win than lose like everybody else in the world, but [I’m] really proud of their effort and the way they just kept going even after we got down whatever it was, 13, 14, I can’t remember.“