DALLAS – The NBA announced today that Mavericks guard Luka Dončić was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Mar. 7 through Sunday, Mar. 13, marking the second time this season (Feb. 7-13, 2022) and the sixth time in his career he has received the honor (Nov. 18-24, 2019; Jan. 4-10, 2021; March 29-April 4, 2021; April 19-25, 2021).
Dirk Nowitzki (16 times) is the only Maverick to win the award more times.
Dončić (6-7, 230) has now been named Western Conference Player of the Week in two of the last three weeks, in addition to being named Western Conference Player of the Month for February.Dončić led the Mavericks to a 3-1 week with averages of 30.5 points (.494 FG), 11.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks in 36.5 minutes.
The 23-year-old began the week by posting game highs of 35 points (12-23 FG, 5-11 3FG, 6-7 FT), 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to go with 1 block in 38 minutes in the Mavericks’ 111-103 victory over Utah on Mar. 7. It marked his first career game recording 35-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, 7-plus assists and 3-plus steals, and he became the first player to hit each of those benchmarks in a game this season.
A game after Dončić posted a game-high 31 points in the Mavericks’ loss to New York on Mar. 9, Dončić posted game highs of 30 points (9-19 FG, 5-11 3FG, 7-10 FT) and 14 rebounds to go along with 6 assists and a game-high-tying 2 blocks in 36 minutes in Dallas’ 113-100 win in Houston on Mar. 11. The performance marked just the second time in his career he reached those numbers in a game (34 points, 20 boards, 12 assists, 2 blocks at SAC on 8/4/20). Dončić also became one of seven players to achieve that stat line in a game this season (joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Karl Anthony-Towns) and the only guard to do it in 2021-22.
Dončić capped the week by helping the Mavericks snap Boston’s 5-game win streak with a game-high 26 points to go with 8 rebounds and a game-high 8 assists in the Mavericks’ 95-92 win on national television. The three-time All-Star helped Dallas erase a 13-point second-half deficit for their league-leading 14th double-digit comeback win to improve to a season-high 16 games above .500 (42-26).
Dončić is averaging team highs of 28.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 35.7 minutes in 52 games (all starts) this season. He ranks in the top 20 in the league in scoring (6th), rebounding (17th) and assists (5th). Despite missing 16 games this season, he stills ranks second in the league in 20-point, five-rebound, five-assist outings (39). Dončić has scored 25-plus points eight times in his last nine games and is averaging 32.7 points (.476 FG), 10.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists in that stretch (since Feb. 17).
Dončić has led Dallas to a 42-26 (.618) record in 2021-22 and the team currently sits in fifth place in the Western Conference. The Mavericks have gone 7-1 over their last 8 games, and 26-8 (.739) since Dec. 31.
