The Dallas Mavericks were eliminated from the NBA Cup on Tuesday night, falling 118-104 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In that loss, Lu Dort held (literally) Luka Doncic to 16 points, but 14 of those came in the fourth quarter. For most of the game, Doncic was a non-factor, allowing the Thunder to advance to Las Vegas while the Mavericks were sent home.
Doncic's performance has caught some heat from fans and former players, including one former NBA Champion.
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"Luka one of my favorite players ever but I watched him quit on his team [Tuesday night]. Stop comparing that man to [Jayson] Tatum. It's not close," Quinn Cook, a two-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, said in a now-deleted tweet.
Tatum is having a great season for the Boston Celtics, averaging 28.2 PPG, 8.9 RPG, and 5.7 APG, but even after Tatum's Celtics beat the Mavericks in last season's NBA Finals, few NBA executives would choose Tatum over Luka Doncic, given Doncic's five straight First-Team All-NBA selections.
Doncic has had some struggles this season, especially early on, when he was returning from a preseason calf injury, but he's still averaging 28.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 7.9 APG. This is likely the worst we'll see him play all season, and he's still one of the five best players in the NBA. He will have to get better at playing off-ball, something OKC forced him to do more and more, but he's good enough to do anything he wants on offense.
READ MORE: Luka Doncic Praises Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander After NBA Cup Quarterfinals
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