BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Luka Doncic matched the fourth-highest scoring performance in NBA history Friday, Jan. 26, pouring in 73 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 148-143 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
A masterful individual performance saw the Slovenian star set a Mavs record with 41 first-half points, with the scorching run continuing in the second half as Dallas kept the determined Hawks at bay.
Doncic added 10 rebounds and seven assists. He connected on 25 of 33 shots from the floor — including eight three-pointers — and made 15 of his 16 free throws.
Doncic ranked the performance “probably at the top” in his career, but with the Mavs coming in on a three-game losing streak he was just focused on getting a victory.
“We’ve been struggling lately,” he said. “Mindset was get a win.
“I was just going, you know, whatever the defense give me,” Doncic added. “In the second half they doubled me all the time so I tried to make some plays.”
His sensational performance spoiled the return of Trae Young, who led the Hawks with 30 points after missing two games in concussion protocol.
Doncic’s franchise-record effort pushed him into elite NBA territory. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant have scored more points in a game, Chamberlain with the league record 100 in 1962 and Bryant with 81 in 2006.
Chamberlain also owns a 78-point performance and two of 73 — a number also reached by David Thompson and, now, Doncic.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd said it was something “extra special” from a player who comes up special on a regular basis.
“What he does on the court is different than anybody else,” Kidd said, adding that Doncic’s ability to keep feeding his teammates amid his own red-hot scoring made the victory possible.
“His ability to make shots, create shots, find open guys — he did that at a high level tonight,” Kidd said, adding he never feared Doncic’s hot hand would pull the Mavs out of their game plan.
“He is the game plan,” Kidd said.
The Hawks had pulled within three points with less than two minutes to play, but Doncic drove for a layup, drew a foul and converted the free throw to help push the lead back to seven with 58 seconds left.
A Young basket cut the deficit to three with 10 seconds to play, but Tim Hardaway Jr. made a pair of free throws to seal it for the Mavs, who were without injured Kyrie Irving.
Doncic’s 25 baskets were a career high and he crushed his own franchise record of 60 points, set against the New York Knicks on December 27, 2022.
Doncic’s effort came less than a week after Joel Embiid poured in 70 in a Philadelphia 76ers win over San Antonio — and it wasn’t the only eye-popping outburst of the night.
Phoenix guard Devin Booker’s 62-point performance, however, came in a losing effort as the Indiana Pacers triumphed 133-131 to halt the Suns’ seven-game winning streak.
They led by as many as 17 but the Pacers had tied it up with less than a minute to play and Obi Toppin’s putback basket off a Pascal Siakam miss sealed the victory as Booker couldn’t get his three-pointer to fall as time expired.
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It was Booker’s second game this season of 50 or more points after a 52-point showing against New Orleans earlier this month. He had a career-high 70 against Boston in 2017.
Siakam scored 31 points, leading six Pacers players in double figures as Indiana notched a second straight win.
Elsewhere, Jaren Jackson scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Memphis Grizzlies, who saw a double-digit lead evaporate but held on for a 107-106 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points to propel the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 112-100 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out nine assists — coming up just shy of a third straight triple-double.
Damian Lillard added another 22 points for Milwaukee, who confirmed that Doc Rivers — who guided Boston to the 2008 NBA title — would take over as head coach after the abrupt sacking of Adrian Griffin.
Assistant Joe Prunty had stood in as interim coach for two games, the first a win over Cleveland that ended the Cavs’ eight-game winning streak on Wednesday.
