Luka Doncic missed the Mavericks’ loss to the Grizzlies on Friday as his wife gave birth to their first child together, a daughter named Gabriella. Doncic discussed fatherhood after the Mavs loss to the Thunder on Saturday, claiming that it was the happiest day of his life.
“First of all, I got the baby, but then today’s game was a big rollercoaster, too. I’m so sad we didn’t win this game, but man, we gave a big, big effort. This team today was impressive in the third and fourth quarter. We gotta play this more times, man. We’re gonna win a lot of games.”
Luka Doncic says he had the happiest day of his life with his daughter Gabriela being born and is "so sad" the Mavs couldn't quite pull off the win against the Thunder:
"First of all, it was the happiest day of my life. I got the baby, but then today's game was a big… pic.twitter.com/gYvFSGu3Sv
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) December 3, 2023
Doncic proposed to his longtime girlfriend Annamaria Goltes in the summer, with Mark Cuban even commenting on the marriage by saying he wanted to give Doncic the NBA Championship as a wedding gift.
Fatherhood seemed to supercharge Doncic in their loss to the Thunder, as he led the Mavs’ to a historic 30-0 run in the fourth quarter to convert a 24-point deficit into a six-point lead. Unfortunately, the Mavs couldn’t close it out with clutch plays from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and some contentious referee calls.
The Mavericks Missed Out On One Of The Greatest Comeback Wins
The Mavericks were without Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dante Exum, and Maxi Kleber heading into the game against the Thunder. Doncic had missed the game before that but returned against OKC to give his teammates some lift. It looked like a wasted effort through the first three quarters, as the Mavericks trailed big almost the entire game.
With a 24-point deficit in the fourth, Doncic, along with Derrick Jones Jr. and Dereck Lively II led the Mavs on an incredible 30-0 run to take a six-point lead. They couldn’t close it out, as Doncic was called for a controversial travel and committed a late turnover that allowed the Thunder to hold on to the win and avoid a major embarrassment.
Doncic’s slow start to the game was because he was feeling exhausted after the birth of his daughter, even telling Jason Kidd he was exhausted in the first quarter.
“Yesterday was probably the best one when I slept in three days, so about four or five hours. It was really good for me based on the other two days. I told Jason Kidd in the first two-three minutes I was exhausted. I was like, ‘I am not making 35 today.’ But, then I just told Jason, ‘I am good, let me go.'”
Doncic’s exhaustion didn’t show on the court, as he dropped 36 points, 15 rebounds, 18 assists, two steals, and two blocks in one of his best regular-season performances ever. His defense was the best we’ve seen in a long time, even causing SGA to struggle and be held to 17 points on the night.
Derrick Jones Jr. contributed 24 points in the absence of Kyrie and Josh Green. Mavs’ rookie Dereck Lively scored 20 points without missing a shot, along with grabbing 16 rebounds and seven blocks, further solidifying the 12th overall pick’s case to be All-Rookie First Team this season.
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