Luka Doncic is “the future of this League,” Kevin Love declared Sunday night after his Cavs fell victim to the 20-year-old star’s 11th career triple-double.
Doncic finished with 29 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds in 34 minutes, leading the visiting Dallas Mavericks past Cleveland 131-111.
“He’s pretty much a magician,” added Love.
Per The Cleveland Plain Dealer:
“I really think he’s the future of this league,” the Cavs’ Kevin Love told cleveland.com after the game. “He’s unbelievable. Last year, I was extremely impressed with his game. He has taken it to a whole new level. In that fourth quarter, we were by our bench and they were shooting and I looked up at the score and saw his stats and I thought, ‘Man, that’s the most quiet 29, 15 and 14 I’ve ever seen in my life.’
“It just goes to show you how impressive he is. Nothing fazes him, nothing speeds him up, his shot has gotten better. He’s pretty much a magician.”
The resilient Cavs trailed by just four points heading into the final quarter. But while Doncic was watching from the sideline, the Mavericks opened on a 14-2 surge, pushing the lead to 15 points. They outscored the Cavs 41-25 in the fourth quarter.
“Just everything,” Love said. “A lack of communication was pretty apparent there in the fourth and that’s why they were able to get up to 41. They were getting to the bucket too easy, low man wasn’t there, second efforts weren’t there, didn’t get the 50/50 balls and they were taking — and making — a lot of 3s. On offense, we got too stagnant. That fourth was definitely an ugly quarter for us. Got out of hand.”
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