Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks just keep on rolling over the opposition. They visited the Toyota Center today with a plan to win, executed it perfectly, and handed James Harden and the Houston Rockets their third consecutive loss.
The 137-123 scoreline at the end could be interpreted as an easy win for the Mavericks, but it doesn’t do the game justice. Doncic and the other visitors never trailed in the game – the third in a row where they’ve scored 137 points or more.
Oh, and before you even ask, Doncic definitely had a good game. He was a lynchpin in a first quarter that saw the Mavericks outscore the Rockets 49-25 thanks to a dizzying array of offensive brilliance from the Slovenian and his teammates.
Doncic led all scorers with 41 points, along with 6 rebounds and 10 assists. His Euro Duo partner Kirstaps Porzingis put up a good night as well, with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists. Porzingis also had the game’s largest plus/minus rating at +32. The other highlight for the Mavericks was Tim Hardaway Jr., who did his dad proud by scoring 31 points on 10 of 18 shooting.
Harden did his best to keep his team in the game, narrowly missing a triple double with 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists. Russell Westbrook also pitched in with 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. He did this inefficiently though, shooting 8 of 20 from the field and also posting the game’s worst plus/minus rating at -23.
Clint Capela continued his amazing rebounding run too, picking up 21 points and 22 boards after narrowly missing the mark for the first time in ages with 19 rebounds against the Clippers yesterday.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was quick to praise his young superstar’s performance. He acknowledged that the victory was important, but that his team isn’t going to get overexcited as there’s still a long way to go in the season. As Carlisle is a championship-caliber coach, it isn’t difficult to take his comments at face value. He knows the type of grind it takes to win a ring, and seems to be having an excellent effect on his players’ overall poise and focus.
Mike D’Antoni, on the other hand, will have a lot of questions to answer in the coming days. It looked like Houston had turned a corner with their big run, but losing streaks in the Western Conference can be severely punished.
Case in point: Houston’s three straight losses have caused them to drop from second in the Western conference to sixth with an 11-6 record. The Mavericks, have leapfrogged them to a shared fourth place with 11-5 record along with the Utah Jazz.
One thing’s for sure. Every single Luka Doncic outburst further puts a spotlight on the two teams that passed on him in the draft.
Other game notes:
The Los Angeles Clippers saw their fifth straight win against the New Orleans Pelicans, and this time they won in convincing fashion with a final scoreline of 134-109. Montrezl Harrell was again their most effective player with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.
The Denver Nuggets defeated the Phoenix Suns 116-104 in a game that saw Paul Millsap, Jamal Murray, and Will Barton all score 22 points or more.
The Nets squeezed by the Knicks 103-101 thanks to a 30 point night from Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Sacramento Kings, who started the season with a 0-5 slump, got a little closer to .500 today with a 113-106 win over the Washington Wizards. The Kings now had a 7-8 record.
