HOUSTON – If Luka Dončić winds up capturing the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award this season, the way the Dallas Mavericks’ superstar point guard tore through the league over the past two months will likely be the reason he was able to take home that precious hardware.
Dončić capped a terrific week on Sunday when he poured in 47 points, collected 12 rebounds, handed out seven assists and picked up two steals in the Mavs’ 125-107 victory over a Houston Rockets squad that entered with 11 straight victories. In four games last week, Dončić averaged 32.5 points, 11 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 1.8 steals, and the NBA named him on Monday as the Western Conference Player of the Week.
Dončić started the week with a 29-point, 12-rebound, 13-assist game against the Utah Jazz last Monday. He followed that up with 28 points, 11 rebounds and six assists against the Sacramento Kings, and added 26 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists in a rematch against the Kings on Friday before culminating his impressive week with that outlandish showing against the Rockets.
For the month of March, Dončić averaged 32.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 10.1 assists and 1.8 steals. All of that came after he averaged 33.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 10.3 assists and 1.8 steals while being named the Western Conference Player of the Month for the month of February.
When asked Sunday if he feels like he’s playing MVP-worthy basketball, Dončić skated the question by saying, “That’s a question for you (media) guys.”
Certainly, after the way Dončić dissected the Rockets, his MVP status took another giant leap forward. Dončić came out like his shorts were on fire as he scored 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and delivered four assists – in the first quarter.
Dončić converted 8-of-11 field goals – the Rockets made nine field goals in the opening quarter. He also was 5-of-7 from three-point range in the first quarter, while the Rockets were just 4-of-11 from downtown in the opening quarter.
Had this been a prize fight, it would have been stopped after the first quarter via a technical knockout.
“One thing that I’ve learned just being on very special teams – great teams – is you’ve got to be able to play every role,” Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said. “So, when somebody is scoring for five straight minutes, keep feeding him that good energy and that positive reinforcement and just play defense and enjoy doing the little things.
“When (Dončić is) being that efficient and being that aggressive, it’ll open up more opportunities for us. You just got to be ready to play every role when somebody’s got it going like that.”
And because Dončić had it going – not just against the Rockets, but all last week – that’s why the NBA named him as their Western Conference Player of the Week. In a nutshell, he’s been stacking up some MVP numbers for quite some time.
While we had some technical difficulties, here are Dwain Price’s three takeaways from the 18-point win over the Rockets.
WHAT A HALF: For those late-comers to Sunday’s game between the Mavs and Rockets, they really missed a treat. Not only did Mavs point guard Dončić pour in 22 points in the opening quarter, he had 32 points, snatched eight rebounds and dispensed five assists – in the first two quarters. Here’s what sheer domination looks like. The Rockets scored 45 points in the first half. With his points and assist total, Dončić accounted for 46 of the 66 points the Mavs tallied in the first half. Enough said.
IRVING RINGING UP THE NUMBERS: Irving was mesmerized by some of the things Luka Dončić was able to do to the Rockets. Especially when Dončić tossed in a 20-footer – underhand style – over Jabari Smith Jr. in the third quarter when the 24-second shot clock was on the verge of expiring. Irving, though, had his own collection of spirited plays against the Rockets. He finished the game with 24 points and seven assists. He was 9-of-19 from the floor, including 4-of-9 from downtown.
IT’S RAINING THREES: After banging out more than their share of points in the paint in recent games, the Mavs picked up their cell phone and called on a trusted old friend to help them dismantle the Rockets. They leaned on the three-point shot. And boy, did it answer the call. Overall against the Rockets, the Mavs were a sizzling 24-of-47 from beyond the three-point arc for a scorching 51.1 percent.
X: @DwainPrice
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