Luka Dončić Named Western Conference Player of the Week

DALLAS – The NBA announced today that Mavericks guard Luka Dončić was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Apr. 4 through Sunday, Apr. 10, marking the seventh 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 for the third time this season (Feb. 7-13, 2022; Mar. 7-13, 2022), tying him with Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns for the most Player of the Week awards amongst Western Conference players this season. Dončić and Booker are the only players in the Western Conference to have earned three-or-more Player of the Week awards in each of the past two seasons.

Dončić led the Mavericks to a 3-0 week with averages of 30.3 points (.467 FG), 9.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 30.8 minutes.

The 23-year-old began the week by posting game highs of 26 points and 14 assists to go with a team-high 8 rebounds in the Mavericks’ 131-113 win in Detroit.

The win put the Mavericks 20 games above .500 for the first time since the 2010-11 season ended and marked the 50th win of the season for Dallas, its 15th 50-win season in franchise history and their first since 2014-15.

The following game, Dončić registered 39 points (12-21 FG, 7-14 3FG, 8-11 FT), 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block and a game-high +41 rating in 30 minutes during the Mavericks’ 128-78 victory over Portland, all without appearing in the fourth quarter.

His +41 rating was the second-highest plus-minus of his career (+45 in 26 minutes vs. GSW 11/20/19, in what was a 35-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist, 4-steal effort).

It marked Dončić’s 39th career 30-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist outing and he now needs just one such game to become the 11th player in NBA history to record 40-or-more 30-10-7 games.

Michael Jordan currently ranks 10th ahead of Dončić with 44 career 30-10-7 games.

Dončić capped the week by helping the Mavericks defeat San Antonio with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in the team’s 130-120 win in the season finale.

With the team’s fourth consecutive win, the three-time All-Star helped Dallas improve to a season-high 22 games above .500 (52-30).

Dončić tallied 25-plus points in 29 of his last 36 games, including 30-plus points 23 times. On the season, Dončić averaged team highs of 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 35.4 minutes in 65 games (all starts) this season. The Slovenian now has two of the seven seasons in NBA history averaging at least 29 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

He ranks in the top 20 in the league in scoring (3rd), rebounding (19th) and assists (5th). Despite missing 17 games this season, he stills ranks second in the league in 20-point, five-rebound, five-assist outings (49).

Dončić led Dallas to a 52-30 (.634) record in 2021-22 and the team will enter the playoffs in fourth place in the Western Conference. The Mavericks have gone 17-5 over their last 22 games, and 36-12 (.750) since Dec. 31.

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