Mavericks: Luka Doncic near triple-double leads Slovenia over Germany

The Dallas Mavericks made a flurry of moves as Luka Doncic was preparing for his Olympic quarterfinal showdown against Germany. They agreed to re-sign Tim Hardaway Jr. and Boban Marjanovic and to add Sterling Brown and Reggie Bullock to their roster. The Mavs are likely to make more moves before training camp begins.

Luka is taking the Olympics by storm. He narrowly missed a triple-double as he quarterbacked Slovenia’s win over Spain to take Group C. They were massive favorites against Dirk Nowitzki’s home country in the first game of the knockout stage.

Doncic had a poor shooting night in the quarterfinals, but he quarterbacked Slovenia to another dominating win. The Germans never gave up, but the Mavericks 22-year-old superstar and his country were just too much. Here is a closer look at the contest that earned Luka bragging rights over Mavs GOAT Dirk Nowitzki.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic leads Slovenia into Olympic semifinals

Luka was again setting the table for Slovenia early on. He had four points, three assists, two rebounds, and one steal as his country raced out to an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Doncic missed his first two 3-pointers in the Olympic quarterfinals, but he was controlling the game.

Germany was far from done, though. They cut the lead to six points and forced Luka back on the floor just over two minutes into the second quarter. Maodo Lo nailed a 3-pointer to push the Germans into the lead at the midway point of the period, but Doncic punched right back. Slovenia got their advantage back to seven at the half as Luka had six points and six dimes.

Doncic was putting on a show in the third quarter. He threw a perfect behind-the-back pass to Mike Tobey for a 3-pointer to put Slovenia up 14 with just over six minutes left in the period. His uncanny ability to find the open player was on full display.

Germany kept fighting, but the lead was 12 at the end of the third. Luka had 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds, one steal, and five turnovers heading into the final ten minutes of action.

Doncic and Slovenia finished off the Germans early in the fourth. They raced the advantage over 20 and never looked back in the 94-70 win. Luka Doncic finished with 20 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, and two steals in 33.3 minutes in the victory. The 22-year-old has been incredible in his first Olympics as Slovenia has dominated the competition in Tokyo so far.

The win puts Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the semifinals of the Olympics on Aug. 5. They are guaranteed to play for a medal. A win on Thursday puts them in the gold medal contest and a loss drops them into the bronze medal game. Luka needs one more win to clinch a medal for his country. Fans won’t want to miss a second of the action, so please check back to The Smoking Cuban for all the latest and enjoy the games.