Dallas Mavericks top plays: Luka Doncic triple-double or Dirk Nowitzki the All-Star?

The Dallas Mavericks put together some great plays/moments this year between the incredible rookie season of Luka Doncic and celebrating an amazing 21 years of Dirk Nowitzki. What was the best play/moment of the 2018-19 Mavs season?

As we continue our search for the Dallas Mavericks top play of the 2018-19 season, we will jump right into the closest matchup in the bracket between the 8 and 9-seeds. Whichever moment wins this matchup will meet the top seeded 41.21.1. game in the next round, which knocked off the Mavs 50-point victory over the Utah Jazz.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 8 and 9-seeds in the Mavs top plays/moments of 2018-19 bracket, starting with the higher seeded Luka Doncic 30-point triple-double.

Luka Doncic’s 30-point triple-double vs. the champs

Two games before the Mavericks went all in on a trade that would snag them Kristaps Porzingis, Luka Doncic was showing just how good he is even on his own. On January 27th of this year, the Mavs welcomed the Toronto Raptors to the American Airlines Center for a regular season matchup.

In the game, Luka took over, despite being guarded by Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Pascal Siakam all at different times. No one could slow Luka down that day, who showed off his shot, his passing, his rebounding ability and just a general understanding of the game that surpasses most everyone else out there.

Luka put together an incredible stat line of 35 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first teenager in history to have a 30-point triple-double as well as the first teenager to ever have multiple triple-doubles. This performance was one of many that really put Luka on the map as a future star of the league.

Now, let’s look at the 9-seed.

Dirk Nowitzki’s final All-Star performance

The difference between the 8-seed and 9-seed in the bracket was minimal here. It is so hard to compare between a rookie coming into his own and a legend making his final rounds. These two players will obviously be a theme here, but which one will take the overall edge?

For this particular matchup, we are looking at Dirk Nowitzki‘s overall performance in All-Star weekend. Despite being an honorary invitee to the big game, Dirk made his impact on the court. He started the weekend by coaching Team World in the rookie/sophomore game. After that, he competed in the three-point contest where he put in 17, outshooting both Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton. He did not make the finals, though.

Then, Dirk made his way onto the court in the big game. Despite playing for only 4 minutes, Dirk went 3-3 from deep and scored 9 points. Just for a reference, that would have put Dirk at 81 points in 36 minutes. MVP worthy numbers, clearly.

Everything Dirk did that weekend was exciting, heartwarming and everything we could have ever hoped for as Mavs fans. Although it was his final appearance at All-Star weekend as a player, he left us with more than enough memories to fill the void.

The remainder of the bracket will be unveiled over the coming weeks as we continue to search for the top play/moment of the Dallas Mavericks 2018-19 season. Keep up with everything here at The Smoking Cuban and on Twitter.