About the only problem Luka Dončić had on Thursday was his timing.
On any other day, he would have been the toast of the NBA.
But even on NBA trade-deadline day, when massive amounts of player movement included the Mavericks shipping out Kristaps Porzingis, 51 points still has a really nice ring to it.
The superstar point guard had his career-best scoring night, which started fast with 28 points in the first quarter and kept going from there. By the time he was done, he had led the Mavericks to a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at American Airlines Center.
“Amazing, that’s the word,” Dončić said. “All the shots felt great. I missed two or three. Even those felt great. They were switching. They didn’t want me to create (for others). So I had to go to work.
“I just felt great. Everything was going in. When you feel like that, you just want to keep going.”
The Mavericks wouldn’t complain.
From the very start – a 3-pointer, a step-back triple, a floater in the paint and another from beyond the arc – Dončić was sizzling.
His 51 points tied the second-most in franchise history. Dirk Nowitzki had 51 in 2006 against Golden State and owns the franchise record of 53 on Dec. 2, 2004, in that legendary overtime win over Houston. The Rockets’ Tracy McGrady had 48 points in that game.
“How things have changed,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Early in the season, we weren’t making any shots. And then Luka decided to make them all. It was a really fun thing to watch. He was incredible. He’s making all the right decisions. He just read the defense and did everything he’s supposed to do.”
He scored 20 of the Mavericks first 24 points and his 32 points were the most in a first half by anyone in the NBA this season.
“In the first quarter, I was like, whoa, I didn’t even know I had 28,” he said.
It was the Mavericks’ fourth consecutive win and it pushed them 10 games over .500 for the first time this season (33-23). They will try to close out the six-game home stand with five wins when they have a rematch against the Clippers on Saturday.
They have won 17 of their last 22 games going back to just before New Year’s Day. They have three games left before the All-Star break. They also will welcome in two new players, perhaps in time for Saturday’s redux against the Clippers. Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans were acquired on deadline day for Kristaps Porzingis.
The impact of that deal will come over time. But if the Mavericks keep getting production like they did Thursday from Luka, it’ll take the pressure off everybody. The Mavericks jumped on his back as Dončić became the 13th player since 1996-97 to record 28 points or more in a quarter. And the first one to do it since James Harden in November, 2019.
He broke the franchise record with seven 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
When he had drilled one of them with 1:21 left in the opening quarter, the Clippers, the crowd acknowledged his incredible run with a long, loud ovation.
So what were the Mavericks thinking as Luka piled up the points.
“Just keep giving him the ball,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “That’s what I was trying to do. They switched with the five man on him. He gone. Until they trapped him.”
The flood of points slowed slightly after the first quarter.
But the Mavericks’ domination of the Clippers did not.
They would open up an 80-63 lead in the third quarter and when it got a little dicey near the end as the Clippers closed to within 97-94, Dončić got a steal that led to a fast-break bucket for Finney-Smith, then he assisted on Reggie Bullock’s 3-pointer.
By then, the Clippers had finally started trapping Dončić to get the ball out of his hands. Earlier, they were switching their defense, which led to him torturing LA center Ivica Zubac for that monstrous first quarter.
Dončić said he could never remember topping 50 points before – “Maybe when I was a little kid,” he said – but he also wasn’t going to embarrass the Clippers. At least not when the game was tucked away.
Rather than try a late shot that could have tied or passed Nowitzki’s club record, he elected to dribble out the clock.
“Ah, that’s fine,” he said. “You don’t shoot that shot. It’s disrespectful.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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