Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic hit a ridiculous buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime against the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this week, catching an inbounds pass in the corner with 0.6 seconds left on the clock and hoisting up a triple while falling out of bounds.
The Mavericks ended up losing the game in overtime, but the shot still sent shockwaves throughout the arena.
The funny thing is, Dallas guard Dennis Smith Jr. was not surprised by Doncic's late-game heroics at all, according to Dwain Price of the Mavs' official team website:
“It was a great shot. Those are shots he shoots every day – during practice, after practice, before practice. It was great to see it go in, but I wouldn’t say I was surprised.”
Doncic ended up with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the defeat, going 7-of-21 from the floor and making a couple of 3-pointers. He then followed that up with 21 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in an impressive victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
It has been a remarkable rookie campaign for Doncic overall, as he entered Wednesday averaging 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.1 steals over 32.5 minutes per game while shooting 43 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line.
The 19-year-old, who came over from Slovenia, was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the third overall pick of the NBA Draft back in June, but was immediately traded to the Mavs for guard Trae Young.
To be fair, Young might go on to have a good career, but it seems safe to say that the Hawks are regretting that trade at this current point in time.
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