Luka Doncic 60-point triple double leads to historic Knicks collapse

Luka Doncic magic was simply too much to overcome for the Knicks, who relinquished a lead that snapped a historic 13,000+ games streak.

Julius Randle and the New York Knicks made the Dallas Mavericks' lives a living hell for most of their Tuesday night game, particularly on the offensive glass, despite the absence of Jalen Brunson and premature exit of RJ Barrett from the game. It seemed like another Luka Doncic masterclass was bound to go to waste, especially with the Knicks still up by nine, 112-103, with only 33.2 seconds to go. But the ghost of Reggie Miller, he of the eight points in nine seconds, still seems to have a hold over the Knicks franchise.

The Mavs proceeded to rally back, thanks to timely shots from Christian Wood, Spencer Dinwiddie, and, of course, Luka Doncic, who hit a ridiculous putback off an intentional free-throw miss. And the Knicks, in the process of relinquishing their aforementioned nine-point lead in 33 seconds en route to a 126-121 overtime loss, became only the first team in NBA history to do so.

In fact, what makes the Knicks' collapse so unprecedented is that teams that have led by nine points or more with only 35 seconds or fewer left in the game have won 13,884 straight times, per Tim McMahon. To put in perspective how ridiculous that is, 13,884 games is equivalent to around 11 seasons worth of NBA games!

Try as the Knicks might, Luka Doncic's magic was simply too much to overcome. Doncic became the first player in NBA history to drop 60 points and 20 rebounds in a single game, and he even added 10 assists for good measure.

And the Slovenian wunderkind is only 23 years old! The rest of the league will be in for a beating from the 6'7 Mavs guard for a long, long time. And in the process, perhaps Doncic could make more absurd records such as these.

Meanwhile, the Knicks have truly tailed off since winning eight straight. They have now lost their past four games. Three of those losses have come in excruciating fashion, one to a 52-point explosion from Pascal Siakam, another to a DeMar DeRozan game-winner, and this time to a historic Luka performance. The Knicks will have an opportunity to right the ship against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.