'Luk'Olympics': Mavs' Doncic Leads Slovenia Past Argentina In Dazzling 48-Point Olympics Debut

Dallas Mavericks' superstar Luka Doncic announced his arrival at the Tokyo Olympics with a 48-point performance as Slovenia took down Argentina in Game 1 of group play.

Dalton Trigg | Jul 26, 2021

Just in case you didn't know before 11:40 p.m. central time on Sunday night, now you know: Luka Doncic has officially arrived at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Dallas Mavericks' superstar dazzled in his Olympics debut, leading Slovenia to a resounding 118-100 win over Argentina in the first game of group play while putting up 48 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks while shooting 18-of-29 from the field and 6-of-14 from deep. It was the most points scored in Olympic play in the last 33 years and tied for the second-most all-time. Slovenia is now 14-0 in competitive games when Doncic plays.

Doncic made his presence known early and often by scoring 31 of his 48 points in the first half alone. Is Doncic the best player in the world right now? His unreal play on this night had the CNBC broadcast announcers pondering that possibility. And after witnessing it, it's hard to argue otherwise.

Mavs fans in the U.S. who decided to stay up into the early Monday morning hours were not disappointed, as they witnessed some more of that familiar 'Luka Magic' that Doncic has displayed so much of in his first three NBA seasons. The ability of Doncic's Slovenian teammates being able to knock down a decent amount their three-pointers has to be something that the Mavs' reshaped front office is taking notice of with the NBA Draft coming up this Thursday and free agency opening just a few days after that.

The Doncic-Kristaps Porzingis relationship might be something that needs some adjustment as well. Doncic's brilliance has a lot to do with Slovenia's success, but the overall chemistry level of the roster is something that can't be overlooked. Dallas finding that right mix for their own roster will be crucial in the coming weeks.

The next time you can watch Doncic and Slovenia will be on Wednesday night at 11:40 p.m. central time when they take on Japan in the second game of group play.

Published Jul 26, 2021

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.