Luka Doncic Celebrates Birthday With Triple-Double

Luka Doncic turned 25 in style, becoming the first NBA player in history to drop a 30-point triple-double on their birthday. Doncic added 16 assists and 11 rebounds in his monumental effort (and 11th triple-double of the season) as the Mavs beat the Raptors on the road. However, the milestone was largely dismissed by Doncic and his colleagues. “Just a normal game, triple-double. He was really good. I guess 25 means he’s still going to be really good as he gets older here,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “I feel 40, so no,” Doncic said when asked if he felt like 25 was a milestone.

The effort comes after a heartbreaking loss for the Mavs. Max Strus stunned the NBA on Tuesday night as he hit a half-court buzzer-beater to lead the Cavaliers past the Mavericks. With 2.1 seconds remaining, Strus heaved a shot from 59 feet. However, he barely saw his shot go in as he was tackled by his teammates. Strus’ shot is the second-longest shot of the three-point era, sitting behind Devonte’ Graham’s 2021 61-footer. However, Strus himself has admitted that this isn’t even the longest shot of his career. “Yeah, at my Division II school, I made a three-quarter-court shot to win the game,” Strus said.

Read More: Luka Doncic Has Historic Night, Signs Boosie BadAzz’s Jersey

Luka Doncic Gets Fan Ejected, Feuds With ESPN Reporter For Coverage Of It

Earlier this season, Luka Doncic getting a fan ejected from a Mavs loss to the Suns became a much bigger story at the post-game presser. Doncic found himself in a back-and-forth with ESPN‘s Tim McMahon, who had covered the ejection as soon as it happened. “You’ll be the first one to always put something bad about me,” Doncic shot at the veteran journalist. Furthermore, Doncic called McMahon’s report “not true at all”. McMahon, who began his career as a Mavs beat reporter, attempted to defend his past coverage of Doncic.

Per McMahon, Doncic had asked security to removed a Suns fan after the fan yelled “Luka, you’re tired. Get your a– on the treadmill!” However, Doncic alleged that the comment was far from the worst thing the fan had said. He refused to repeat the fan’s other comments. However, Doncic noted that the fan had been insistently heckling him the entire game. Instead, the treadmill was the one that pushed him over the edge.

Read More: Luka Doncic To Cover Funeral Costs For School Shooting Victims

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Nikola Jokic Ties Obscure Wilt Chamberlain Record

Nikola Jokic has tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record for the most “perfect” triple-double – a triple-double with perfect shooting. Jokic’s 26/14/10 night with 11-for-11 shooting helped the Nuggets halt the four-game run of the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies had appeared unstoppable since the return of Ja Morant. However, the performance marked Jokic’s third such triple-double, tying the long-standing mark set by Chamberlain. The only other player in NBA history to record multiple “perfect” triple-doubles is Draymond Green with two.

However, Jokic was humble when speaking about the game. “It’s a miss and make game. Of course, sometimes you miss, sometimes you make. Today I made all of my shots. It’s not going to be a lot of those nights,” Jokic said. However, Jokic sat out the last 1:31 of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter after achieving the stats needed for the triple-double. Furthermore, head coach Mike Malone echoed Jokic’s comments. “[Jokic] was 11-for-11 tonight. He doesn’t care about that. If Jamal has got it going, he’s clapping for Jamal. He takes more joy in his teammates’ success [than his own], and that’s the true definition of being selfless. And he lives it every day,” Malone said.

Read More: Nikola Jokić Briefly Lost The Finals MVP Trophy

Dwight Howard Claims His Prime Was Better Than Nikola Jokic

While Jokic consistently finds himself in rare company, there are those who don’t see him as a true GOAT. “So, people look at that and say, “Well, Jokić, he scores and does all this stuff.” And no offense, I think he’s great. I love Jokić, I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to hate even comparing, but I’m going to take myself. I know how dominant I was and I know what I could do with my skills. And on the defensive end and on the offensive end I was quick enough to get past everybody,” Dwight Howard told Complex in July.

Furthermore, he continued to expound on how he compared to Jokic. “So, I didn’t necessarily have to use skill moves and stuff like that all the time to score. I use my speed a lot, I use power to finesse or sometimes speed to finish with power. I just had an array of different things but people just remember seeing me dunk the ball on people’s head. And I love Jokić and I’m happy for him. I think he’s one of the best centers that ever played the game on basketball. [But] I’m Dwight Howard. I know what I’ve done in this league.” At the time of writing, Howard has 19485 points (55th) and 10476 rebounds (10th). Jokic has 12897 points (227th) and 6669 rebounds (137th).

Read More: Dwight Howard Seeks Dismissal Of Stephen Harper Lawsuit

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