Mavericks news: Luka Doncic wins best player of 2022, jokes with Michael Finley, more

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic had a massive 2022. Fans may remember that is when the Mavs took off last season. They were 17-18 after a New Year’s Eve win over the Kings before going 35-12 to finish the regular season in fourth in the Western Conference. Doncic then led the Mavericks to the conference finals and is now playing the best basketball of his career.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton decided to hand out an award for the best player in the calendar year of 2022 (subscription required), and Luka took home the honors. It was surprising Pelton went away from Stephen Curry, who led the Warriors to another championship, but Doncic had a massive year that was closed with MVP-caliber play to start this season.

Luka just keeps getting better. He had the NBA’s first 60-point 20-rebound triple-double against the Knicks on Dec. 27. There are truly no answers for him right now, and that helped number 77 win the best player of 2022.

More Mavericks news

Luka Doncic had another historic performance against the Rockets on Dec. 29 as he finished with a 35-point triple-double. The 23-year-old superstar was making plays all over the court, including blocking two shots on Thursday night. His 95 points over the last two games were the most in NBA history in back-to-back triple-doubles. He also became just the second player in league history to have at least 151 points plus assists plus rebounds in consecutive triple-doubles joining Oscar Robertson.

Luka’s favorite accomplishment of the night was passing Michael Finley for ninth in Mavericks history in assists. The latter is now the team’s assistant general manager, and the duo has a close relationship. Doncic could not resist taking a shot on Twitter on Thursday night.

Luka and Finley love to compete, and fans can be sure that their current superstar will let the Mavericks legend know that he passed him on the all-time list.

NBA news

Pacers wing Buddy Hield made a bit of history of his own on Thursday night as he drilled a 3-pointer just three seconds into Thursday’s game, which was the fasted long-range bucket recorded since 1997. The Pacers went on to defeat the Cavaliers 135-126 behind 25 points from Hield and 29 points and nine assists from Tyrese Haliburton.

11 players were suspended for their roles in a brawl on Wednesday night with Pistons guard Killian Hayes getting three games for elbowing Magic forward Moe Wagner in the back of the head. Wagner got two games for starting the fight with nine players, including eight Magic receiving one game. Orlando has so many players suspended that they needed to stagger the punishment over the next two games, so the Magic have enough healthy bodies to play.

The Dallas Mavericks travel to San Antonio to put their five-game winning streak on the line against the Spurs on New Year’s Eve. Can Luka Doncic and company make it six straight? What will the 23-year-old superstar do in his final game of 2022? Do not miss it.