About an hour before he made history and scored 73 points in an NBA game tonight (Friday to Saturday), Luka Doncic was unusually off.
"In my warmup, I missed a lot of shots," said the Dallas Mavericks star after the 143:148 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, in which he became the third-highest scorer in a game in the best league in the world.
While his meaningless shots weren't going in the ring in warmups, Darrell Armstrong, one of the Mavericks' assistant coaches who worked with him in warmups, told Doncic, "You're going to shoot well in this game."
The assistant had a feeling it would be a good night, maybe 50 points, "But hell," Armstrong admitted in an interview with "The Athletic" after the game, "I didn't imagine he'd get to 73."
"We can't take him for granted," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said.
"What he does on the court is different than anyone else. Some people say they are a system, he is the game plan," Kidd noted of Doncic.
"His ability to score shots, create shots, find free players, he did it at a high level tonight."
Jason Kidd with Luka Doncic in the performance of the 73 points, photo: EPA
Doncic, as mentioned, is in the all-time top scorers table in third place, after Wilt Chamberlain (100 and 78 points) and Kobe Bryant (81 points).
He also matched David Thompson, but tonight he left behind big names like Elgin Baylor, David Robinson, Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell who each scored a career-high 71 points.
The rival Atlanta Hawks, as you know, selected Doncic in the 2018 draft, but they traded him to Dallas at the expense of Trae Young.
Although Young is a talented scorer, Hawks fans wonder what could have been had their team drafted Doncic instead.
"Oh it was great," Doncic said of a historic performance against the team that traded him.
"I could have been here, but I think it's beneficial for both sides. I actually saw one fan wearing an Atlanta jersey with 77, so I was happy. You always have maybe a little more (feelings) special to it, maybe it was more special."
Trae Young and Luka Doncic.
The trade in question, photo: AFP
pic.twitter.com/ij0PpNDMou
— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) January 27, 2024
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