Even if Tyrese Haliburton (43 points, 7 assists) and Joel Embiid (44 points, 7 rebounds) also shone on Christmas Eve, it’s hard not to highlight Luka Doncic’s last performance as MVP of the night.
The Slovenian thus crossed the 50-point mark for the second time in his career (his record stands at 51 units) and the Mavericks needed all his points to overcome the young players of Stephen Silas.
“Sometimes you feel like you’re going to take more shots than usual” reacted Luka Doncic after the meeting. “When you feel warm, you feel like everything is going to fit. »
“Luka, it’s Luka. He’s the best player in the world.”
This is indeed the impression given by the Texan “franchise player”, chaining penetrations, work at the post and long shots. Without forgetting to dissect the defense to find his teammates and allow himself some fantasies, like this hypnotizing dribble against Kevin Porter Jr. and Alperen Sengun. Full performance, “a great Christmas gift to end a long road trip”as described by his coach, Jason Kidd.
“Luka, it’s Luka. He’s the best player in the world.” assures the coach. “He showed it tonight, carrying us offensively. I don’t know what else to say about him. He was amazing tonight. »
His final stat line? 50 points at 17/30 shooting including 6/12 from afar, 10 assists, 8 rebounds but 7 ball losses. Above all, he scored the decisive shots late in the game (17 points in the last quarter) to secure the victory.
For Stephen Silas, his team’s defensive plan was the right one. There was just “too much Luka” for Houston. “I’m not sure he got an easy shot” even assures the coach, who must have forgotten a few sequences. “We gave him all the difficult shots, but that’s the greatness of a great player. That’s what Luka does.
| Luka Doncic | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | DAL | 72 | 32 | 42.7 | 32.7 | 71.3 | 1.2 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | DAL | 61 | 34 | 46.3 | 31.6 | 75.8 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.2 | 28.8 |
| 2020-21 | DAL | 66 | 34 | 47.9 | 35.0 | 73.0 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.6 | 27.7 |
| 2021-22 | DAL | 65 | 35 | 45.7 | 35.3 | 74.4 | 0.9 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 0.6 | 28.4 |
| 2022-23 | DAL | 29 | 36 | 49.4 | 34.5 | 73.7 | 0.8 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 32.2 |
| Total | 293 | 34 | 46.1 | 33.8 | 73.7 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 27.0 | |
