Luka Doncic turned 25 years old on Wednesday night as the Dallas Mavericks traveled to take on the Toronto Raptors, and he’s currently enjoying the best season of his phenomenal young career. There aren’t five players in the world having a better campaign than Luka, who is averaging career-highs in scoring (34.5 points per game) and assists (9.6 per game) while also shooting a career-best 38.4 percent from three. This is an all-time great player just starting to step into his prime.
The Mavericks are locked into an extremely competitive battle in the Western Conference playoff picture as they try to avoid the play-in tournament. There’s only 1.5 games separating the No. 5 seed and No. 8 seed in the West entering Wednesday night. Even with their trade deadline reinforcements, the Mavs still need Luka to provide magic every single night.
A signature moment of Luka magic happened near the end of the first quarter against Toronto. Luka drove the middle of the lane and threw a perfect behind the head hook pass to hit teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. for the corner three. Watch the video here:
Luka has thrown some absolutely bonkers passes this season, but this is one is right up near the top of the list. How many other guys in the league would even attempt that pass, let alone throw it with pinpoint accuracy and velocity?
It’s terrifying that Luka is only getting better considering how good he’s always been since he entered the league. Dallas needs him at his best every night, that’s for sure.