What if Luka Doncic had delivered his best game in the NBA last night? No “triple-double” for him, but a demonstration worthy of an MVP with 50 points, 14 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 interceptions, 3 blocks… It was he, at 3 points, who made the first break Match. An 11-0 to allow the Mavericks to finish the first quarter with a 12-point lead (38-26).
Opposite, the Suns are unable to read the pick-and-roll launched by Luka, and easy baskets follow one another for the Mavericks. Like this big dunk from Derek Lively II or the one from Dante Exum who takes the baseline. As Tim Hardaway Jr. is also having a good night, the Mavs are calmly managing their lead. But be careful because Chimezie Metu has decided to have the match of his life, and the Nigerian does very badly from far and up close. At halftime, Dallas still leads by 10 points (64-54).
The Suns distressing on defense
Returning from the locker room, Grayson Allen also lets loose, and the Suns eat up their delay, and come back to two units (79-77). Doncic responds, but Allen is unleashed, and Phoenix signs a 10-0 to take control (87-82). It's Allen against the rest of the world, and at the start of the last quarter, the Suns keep control (97-91) with Kevin Durant stacking up the free throws.
But the Suns don't want to defend, and between the unsteady withdrawal and catastrophic rotations, the Mavericks take advantage. Doncic only needs a small screen to hit a 3-pointer, or a sluggish two-hander to find Lively for the backhand dunk under the rim. Without really forcing, Dallas takes control, and Doncic has the luxury of reaching 50 points for a final victory (128-114).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Luka, the precocious one. He only needed 11 points to reach the threshold of 10,000 career points, and he achieved it on a 3-pointer from 8-9 meters after a good ball released by Derrick Jones Jr. He did better than that with therefore 50 points, and among active players, he is the fastest to reach this milestone with only 358 matches. Joel Embiid needed 419 meetings.
– Luka with the older ones. The Dallas leader is only the 4th player in history to reach 50 points on Christmas Eve, and he joins a very exclusive club where we find Bernard King (60 points in 1984), Wilt Chamberlain (59 in 1961) and Rick Barry (50 in 1966).
– The Suns in the negative. Candidates for the title with the arrival of Bradley Beal, Frank Vogel's players missed their first third of the season with 14 victories for 15 defeats. The Suns are 11th in their conference, and we have seen Devin Booker get annoyed with his teammates several times. It is not a good sign.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
