DALLAS _ Amid the Mavericks' bleak opening 10 games, which culminated Tuesday night with a somewhat brightening 119-100 victory over Washington at American Airlines Center, it hasn't been easy to see beyond the gloom.
Allow Tuesday's opposing coach, Scott Brooks, to illuminate the big picture for Mavericks fans: Luka Doncic. The Mavericks rookie's savvy and obvious potential dazzle Brooks.
"I don't look at him as a young player," he said. "He's a legitimate NBA player who's going to be a superstar in this league.
"Every game, you look at him you say, 'OK, you sure this guy is only 19?' "
Tuesday was a continuation of Doncic's brilliance, except this time the Mavericks snapped a six-game losing streak by sprinting to a 70-49 halftime lead and then, after Washington closed within 6 in the fourth quarter, pulling away for the win.
At 3-7, the Mavericks' 10-game report card: D
Slovenian Doncic's rookie season progress report: A-minus, marginally dinged because he hasn't elevated his team to more victories. Yet.
Dallas' playoff chances don't look great, but as of Election Night, Doncic appears to have the early lead in Rookie of the Year polling, with Phoenix's Deandre Ayton and Atlanta's Trae Young close behind.
He leads NBA rookies in scoring average (19.6), is second in assist average (4.6) and fourth in rebound average (6.6).
"They are great players," Doncic said of Ayton and Young. "I knew they were going to do good. I'm not really worried about that. I'm worried about my team. We're not really good right now, and that's all I worry about."
Against the Wizards, Doncic finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, though it wasn't so much the numbers, but his timely bursts.
With the Mavericks trailing 13-12, Doncic converted a 3-point play, sank a 3-pointer and then a floater in the lane during a 12-2 run that propelled Dallas to a 35-24 lead after one quarter.
That was a needed development for a Mavericks team that had been outscored in first quarters by an average of 32.1 to 27.2 and was coming off a 118-106 home loss to the lowly Knicks.
Washington (2-8) also is in that category, but this is the same Mavs team that also lost to Phoenix. Sure enough, after Doncic made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Dallas the 21-point halftime lead, the Wizards charged back to within 91-85 early in the fourth quarter.
Perhaps the biggest NBA adjustment Doncic has had to make, after three seasons with Real Madrid, is playing on a struggling team. Real Madrid was 38-5 in Spanish league play last season and won that championship as well as the EuroLeague title.
"It's frustrating for me because I've always been on winning teams," Doncic said. "So when we lost one game, I was so mad. So it's just different."
Other than that, Doncic said, there have been no surprises, no major adjustments to playing against faster players on a wider court.
"No, I watched the NBA a lot last year," he said. "And through my life I watched a lot of the NBA, so I knew how it would be."
Twenty-one years ago, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki struggled as a Mavericks rookie, averaging 8.2 points, but now he is the No. 7 scorer in NBA history. Doncic also pointed to the recent successes of Latvia's Kristaps Porzingis and Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"I think we (Europeans) are proving that we can play in this league," Doncic said.
Before Tuesday night, Washington's Brooks only had seen Doncic on TV and on videotape, but he also knew Doncic was MVP of both the Spanish league EuroLeague.
"What he was able to accomplish last year as an 18-year-old, to me, is more impressive than any kid in college would be able to do in a 32-game season where you're only playing against maybe, on a good night, two or three other NBA players," Brooks said.
"Now this kid is coming in (to the NBA) and he's special from the very start ... What he's doing early on, I don't know if it's ever happened before."
Chins up, Mavericks fans. Your team remains a work in progress, but Doncic is opening eyes around the NBA.
