LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. _ Hours after being named one of three finalists for NBA Most Improved Player, Luka Doncic continued doing what he's done all season _ and especially during the Mavericks' season restart here in the bubble.
The difference Saturday night in the Mavericks' 136-132 overtime victory over Milwaukee that when Doncic zigged, zagged or knifed through the Bucks' defense and set his teammates up for open looks, they often made the shots.
And then Doncic delivered both points and assists in clutch time. A Mavericks team that has struggled in that time of game all season out-executed a Milwaukee team with the NBA's best record and ultimately pulled out their second victory in five seeding games in the bubble.
With the Mavericks trailing 119-117, Doncic drove to the basket and was fouled by Kris Middleton with 21.4 seconds left. Doncic sank both free-throws. Milwaukee's George Hill missed a 3-pointer and the Bucks missed two tip-in attempts, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Mavericks got an early 3-pointer from Tim Hardaway Jr. and two by Dorian Finney-Smith to take a nine-point lead, but the Bucks rallied behind a Giannis Antetokounmpo layup and a Middleton 3-pointer.
With 1:08 left and Dallas holding a 130-128 lead, Doncic drove into the lane and threw a bounce pass between his legs to a cutting Maxi Kleber for a dunk and follow free-throw after he was fouled.
Doncic sealed the victory with a drive and pull-up 10-footer, giving Dallas a 135-130 lead.
Doncic finished with 36 points, 19 assists, 14 rebounds for his 25th career triple-double _ and just two turnovers. Earlier in the day he was named a Most Improved Player finalist, along with Miami's Bam Adebayo and New Orleans' Brandon Ingram.
"It's certainly legit," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's not a stretch. Normally you see this with, it does tend to be younger players, but not younger players of this level. And the improvement of his game has come in really every facet."
The Mavericks also got 26 points apiece from Finney-Smith and Kristaps Porzingis before Porzingis fouled out with 1:23 left in overtime.
After three straight ragged offensive performances in the bubble, the Mavericks' league-best offense at least resurfaced in stretches against Milwaukee's NBA-best defense.
Entering Saturday, the Mavericks ranked 21st out of the 22 bubble teams in field goal percentage (42.7) and 20th in 3-point percentage (31.4).
But against the Bucks the Mavericks raced to a 26-15 lead while making nine of their first 11 shots. Doncic had seven points and six assists in the opening quarter, while Porzingis had nine points and seven rebounds.
Of Doncic's first eight assists, four were for layups and three set up 3-pointers. By the end of the first half, Doncic had posted the first 15-point, 10-assists half by a Maverick since Jason Kidd in 2009.
And for the second straight half in bubble play, along with the second half of Thursday's loss to the Clippers, Doncic had zero turnovers.
"We've made an emphasis on attacking the paint since coming back from the hiatus," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've felt that we needed to balance out more layups along with 3-point attempts.
"Luka's done a great job of being aggressive. He's really picked it up as have all of our guys.
The problem was that after a strong defensive first quarter, the Mavericks became porous in the second quarter, when Bucks center Brook Lopez lit up Dallas for 21 of his 34 points.
With Dallas holding a 54-52 lead, two Lopez 3-pointers and technical fouls on Carlisle and Doncic accounted for eight Milwaukee points in 25 seconds and a 60-54 Bucks lead.
It marked the second straight game in which an opposing center riddled the Mavericks. The other was far-less-accomplished Clippers center Ivica Zubac making all 10 of his field-goal attempts _ unlike Lopez, doing most of his damage inside.
The 21-points by Lopez was the second time this season, and in bubble play, that Dallas allowed 20-plus points by an opponent in a quarter. Houston's James Harden scored 23 points in the first quarter of the bubble opener.
Saturday marked the return of Seth Curry from two missed games with a sore right leg, but he shot 1 of 7 and scored two points as Carlisle, as promised before the game, limited his court time, to 21 minutes.
