The only fan base that may be shaking their heads more than the Mavs' faithful and the shocked Clippers followers right now may be Atlanta Hawks fans. It's nothing against Trae Young and Cam Reddish... but man, is Luka something different.
After playing on a bum ankle through four quarters of pulse-pounding basketball action against the No. 2 seed Los Angeles Clippers, the 21-year-old brought out his best in the overtime period and helped his No. 7 seed Dallas Mavericks to even up the series.
But it's not like he only stepped up his game when it mattered most. No, in leading up to that phenomenal shot, Luka had simply scored 40 points (not including those last three), along with 17 rebounds and 13 assists. He joined ridiculously exclusive company in hitting the buzzer beater after such a performance.
Casually joining a list of four of the greatest clutch shooters the game has ever seen, along with two faces cemented on the league's Mount Rushmore? Not bad for 21 years old.
But that wasn't the only exclusive club he joined. On the broadcast after the game, ESPN shared that Luka became the third player in NBA history to post a 40-point, 15-rebound and 10-assist game in NBA playoff history. That's something neither LeBron, nor MJ, nor any of the names on the above list have ever done, but that has been accomplished by Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley.
Once again, the guy is 21 years old -- and was playing on a bad ankle -- and that's the scariest part. After only two seasons in the league, we've kind of gotten used to seeing the Slovenian phenom perform like this.
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