Where Luka Doncic ranks among playoff greats entering NBA Finals

Jeremy Vernon

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Where Luka Doncic ranks among playoff greats entering NBA Finals image

Luka Doncic saved his best performance for last in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday night, scoring 20 of his 36 points in the first quarter to shellshock the Minnesota Timberwolves in front of their home fans and lift the Dallas Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011.

So far this postseason, the Slovenian leads all players in points (489), rebounds (164), assists (150), steals (28), field goals made (166), 3-pointers made (57) and free throws made (100).

Here are some other mind-blowing numbers from Doncic and how they rank among the best players in history:

— Doncic is the first player in NBA history to record 450 points, 150 rebounds, 150 assists and 50 made 3-pointers in a single playoffs.

— He is fourth in NBA history with 25 playoff games with at least 30 points before turning 26 years old, trailing only LeBron James (35), Kevin Durant (33) and Kobe Bryant (32).

— Doncic has nine triple-doubles in 45 career playoff games, good for ninth all time. The only active players with more are LeBron (28 in 287 games) and Nikola Jokic (18 in 80 games). Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is fifth with 11 in 158 career playoff games.

— Luka is third all time with 155 made threes in the playoffs before turning 26, trailing only the Boston duo Jayson Tatum (224) and Jaylen Brown (166).

— He is 10th all time in playoff assists before turning 26, though he is fifth in assists per game among those with at least 300 postseason assists (8.2).

— Doncic is second in NBA history with 31.1 points per game on average in the postseason, trailing only Michael Jordan (33.4).

— He is seventh in average playoff Player Efficiency Rating, or PER (25.8), among players with at least 30 career postseason games, trailing Jokic (29.2), Jordan (28.6), George Mikan (28.5), LeBron (27.9), Anthony Davis (26.6) and Shaquille O'Neal (26.1).

 — Luka's average of 32.2 points per game in Conference Finals games is first in NBA history among players with at least 10 games played.

— Doncic's 20 points in the first quarter of Game 5 wasn't even his most points in one quarter in his Conference Finals career. He had 21 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the 2022 Western Conference Finals against the Warriors.

Jeremy Vernon

Jeremy Vernon Photo

Jeremy Vernon is a reporter and editor from Greensboro, North Carolina, with a decade of experience in the industry. His previous stops include MLB.com and two local papers in N.C. — the Monroe Enquirer-Journal and the Chatham News + Record. When he isn’t working, you can likely find Jeremy at the dog park with his two-year old lab mix, Summer.