Dallas Mavericks superstar point guard Luka Doncic is doing great things in the playoffs this year, including matching a Chicago Bulls great in one area.
The legendary Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan had some of the best and most memorable playoff runs in NBA history. He won six titles throughout the 1990’s during his insane run with the Bulls. It will be difficult for any other player ever again to match what Jordan did, but there are a few worth noting that are matching some of the number he put up during his playing days with the Bulls.
On Aug. 23, Dallas Mavericks second-year superstar point guard Luka Doncic did join some elite company with Jordan and a few other current stars around the NBA. Doncic had himself a massive outing in the fourth game of the first round playoff matchup between the seven-seed Mavericks and the two-seed Los Angeles Clippers.
On Sunday afternoon, Doncic led the Mavericks to even up the series with the Clippers with a game-winning buzzer beater stepback three-point shot that he drained. Time ran out just after the ball went through the hoop, and also brought Doncic into elite company in the process.
Players to score 40+ in a playoff game and win it with a buzzer-beater (per @bball_ref):
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) August 23, 2020
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Kawhi Leonard
Damian Lillard
And now Luka Doncic.
With that buzzer-beater from Doncic, he now joins a list that includes Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James, Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard, Clippers superstar forward Kawhi Leonard, and Jordan. What those five players have in common is that they’ve scored 40+ points in a single playoff game while hitting a buzzer beater.
The one time that Jordan hit a game-winning buzzer beater while scoring at least 40 points in a playoff game in his career came back on May 7, 1989, in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In that game, Jordan registered 44 points on 53.1 percent shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds, six assists, and one steal.
Lillard was actually the lone player on this list to score at least 50 points in a single playoff game while hitting a game-winning buzzer beater. That came when he scored 50 and hit that deep game-winning three-point shot over Paul George to help the Blazers get past the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs last year.
This game in particular for Doncic saw him register 43 points on 58.1 percent shooting from the field to go along with 17 rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, and one block (despite seven turnovers). Doncic hit that game-winning buzzer beater from downtown over point guard Reggie Jackson to give the Mavericks the thrilling 135-133 overtime win.
The next game up for Doncic in the first round playoff matchup against the Clippers is set for Aug. 25. The series is now tied at two games a piece and Game 5 will obviously be key to the Mavericks potentially pulling off a massive first round upset of the Clippers.