Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic is finding his groove with another triple-double

Five days after ending Chicago’s NBA-high nine-game winning streak, the Dallas Mavericks halted the Memphis Grizzlies 11-game streak with a comeback 112-85 victory at the FedEx Forum. 

Luka Doncic notched his 40th career triple-double, finishing the game with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. 

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Doncic became just the eleventh player in NBA history to notch 40 career triple-doubles. For reference, there have been 80 triple-doubles in Mavericks’ history –  Doncic is responsible for half of those.

The Slovenian reached the feat in just his 226th career game, the second-fewest games to reach 40 triple-doubles in NBA history (Oscar Robertson, 92 games).

Doncic had been inconsistent to start this season and his overall numbers were down from last season. Many began to question whether it was his conditioning – or lack thereof – that was causing the issue.

But Doncic has missed a chunk of time due to ankle injury, and he’s also spent some time in the league’s health and safety protocols. He re-injured his ankle in a loss to the Pacers and was set to return on Dec. 23, but was sidelined for another five games after entering the protocols on Dec. 22.

Doncic has missed 15 games for Dallas this season and the Mavericks are 6-9 in those games, highlighting his importance to this squad. 

Since exiting protocols on Jan. 1, however, Doncic has been playing at an extremely high level. In his past five games, he’s averaging a triple-double of 23.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 10.2 assists.

The Mavericks are 4-1 in those games and have won eight of their last 10, really hitting their stride. As a result, they have moved up to fifth in the Western Conference standings at 23-19, although, they are still five games behind the Utah Jazz in fourth. 

The Mavs host the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Arena on Saturday.