Luka Magic happened again last week — so much so that he was named the NBA’s player of the week.

Luka Dončić led the Mavericks to three victories, two of them on the road, as he won the award for the first time this season and the second time in his career.

Following is the news release announcing the NBA’s player-of-the-week award:

 

LUKA DONČIĆ NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK

 

DALLAS — The NBA announced today that Mavericks guard Luka Dončić was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Jan. 4 through Sunday, Jan. 10. It marks the second time in his career that he has received the honor (Nov. 18 through Nov. 24, 2019) and he joins Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Michael Finley, Mark Aguirre and Josh Howard as one of six Mavericks to garner the award multiple times.

Dončić (6-7, 230) led the Mavericks to a 3-0 week with averages of 30.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 11.3 assists per game. He recorded a triple-double in two of the three games, finishing one board shy of accomplishing the feat in all three.

The third-year guard opened the week by notching the NBA’s first 30-point triple-double of the season with a 33-point, 16-rebound, 11-assist effort in Dallas’ 113-100 victory at Houston on Jan. 4. Dončić led the Mavericks in points, rebounds and assists for the 39th time in his career (including ties), passing Dirk Nowitzki (38) for the most such games in franchise history. He also dished out his 1,000th career assist against the Rockets, becoming the 11th player in NBA history to reach the milestone before his 22nd birthday.

The 21-year-old followed up his 30-point triple-double by posting team highs of 38 points, nine rebounds, 13 assists and a career-high five steals in Dallas’ 124-117 overtime win at Denver on Jan. 7. He became the first player in league history to hit each of those benchmarks in the same game.

Dončić capped the week with a 20-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist outing in the Mavericks’ 112-98 victory over Orlando on Jan. 9. It marked the 25th 20-point triple-double of his career and he passed Elgin Baylor (24) for the 12th-most 20-point triple-doubles in league history.

In eight games (all starts) this season, Dončić is averaging team highs of 26.6 points (7th in NBA), 9.3 rebounds (16th) and 8.3 assists (6th) per game. He has led the Mavericks to a 4-1 mark in the 2021 calendar year.

Share and comment

More Mavs News