Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic reacts after being knocked to the ground during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Monday, Dec. 25, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns ran double teams against Luka Doncic and the Dallas star split them up to create easy baskets.
It was even worse when the Suns left Doncic face-to-face.
Luka Doncic scored 50 points to eclipse 10,000 in his NBA career and had 15 assists, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
“He’s one of the best in the world,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “As I’ve always said, we can’t take it for granted. When he feels it, you just try to give him the ball as much as possible.
They certainly did it against the Suns and Doncic made them pay for it.
Doncic capped a Christmas Day full of NBA games with a stellar performance, hitting 8 of 16 from 3 and all 12 of his free throws. He eclipsed 10,000 career points in the first quarter to reach the 358 career game mark, the seventh fastest in NBA history.
Luka Doncic concocted a HISTORY #NBAXmas performance during the Mavs’ victory against the Suns ????
50 points
15 AST
8 p.m. 3 p.m.
6 RECs
4STL
3 BLACK▪️No player in NBA history has reached these thresholds
▪️ 2nd player in history with 50 points and 15 assists (James Harden, December 31, 2016) pic.twitter.com/tBFSwWKq9n-NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2023
The rest of the non-conformists came in when Doncic faded from double teams.
Dereck Lively II had 20 points and 10 rebounds after missing four games with a sprained ankle and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points in Dallas’ ninth straight game without Kyrie Irving (heel).
After allowing Phoenix to take the lead, Dallas went on a 17-4 run midway through the fourth quarter and pulled away from there.
“It was a tough game on the road and apart from the 10k and the 50 points, we won the game so I’m really happy,” Doncic said.
The Mavericks did their best to limit the efficiency of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, limiting them to 25 shots combined.
With Phoenix’s two stars surrounded by defenders all night, Chimezie Metu and Grayson Allen gave the Suns a boost from a bench that has been a weak point at times this season.
Allen scored 19 of his 32 points in the third quarter to help the Suns recover from a 15-point deficit and was 8 of 17 from 3. Metu had 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, the big man Jusuf Nurkic having missed his second in a row. gambling for personal reasons.
The Suns have lost nine of 11.
“We didn’t stop them in the fourth, so we took the ball to the basket,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “By double-teaming Luka, they were hurting us and when we weren’t double-teaming, he was hurting us too and I think that made us lose our offensive rhythm a little.”
Doncic had a 39-point triple-double in a win over San Antonio in his last game and is off to a torrid start in the desert.
He greeted Lively by setting him up with two easy baskets at the rim. Doncic started looking for his shot after that, scoring 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter to give the Mavericks a 36-24 lead.
Doncic came back in the second quarter to hit a step-back 3-pointer and found Derrick Jones Jr. for a soaring alley-oop. Doncic had 24 points and eight assists to give Dallas a 64-54 halftime lead.
The Suns were disjointed offensively for most of the first half, missing 13 straight shots by the end of the first quarter. Phoenix kept Dallas within reach behind Metu’s 13 points as they got to the line, hitting 12 of 14 free throws in the first half.
“I trust the players on this team,” said Booker, who had 20 points and 10 assists. “I throw it to them every time, but the first half we just missed them.”
The Suns had better ball movement to open the third quarter, using penetration to open eyes while cutting Dallas’ lead to 75-71. Phoenix took the lead on Allen’s 3-pointer and things got tough late in the third quarter when Dallas’ Grant Williams pulled Booker by his jersey.
The Mavericks used their big run to go up eight and stretched it to 14 on Doncic’s runner in the final seconds to push him to 50 points, capping his special Christmas night.
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FOLLOWING
Dallas: Hosts Cleveland on Wednesday.
Phoenix: Plays at Houston on Wednesday.
