The Dallas Mavericks(13-14) put together the duo of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis for games like they got on Friday night against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
Doncic recorded a career-high 46 points to go with eight rebounds and 12 assists, while Porzingis had 36 points and seven rebounds. Porzingis hit eight threes on 13 attempt, marking a career-high for makes. The two would combine for 82 points, and ultimately, the Mavericks would outlast the Pelicans(11-14) 143-130.
With the win, Dallas has now won four straight and five of their last six. The Mavericks are 4-1 on this current seven-game homestand.
Pelicans star Zion Williamson had a career-high 36 points on 14-15 shooting.
After the game, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle discussed the duo of Luka and Porzingis.
“They’re both great offensive players,” Carlisle said about Luka and Porzingis. “They’re both very unique. They fit together extremely well. Their games complement each other extremely well. The chemistry tonight was tremendous. Balls were being delivered on time, on target. People were stepping into shots in rhythm. It was great stuff to watch.”
Porzingis added: “I think you could see in the bubble the first glimpse of how we are capable of playing together and what we are capable do doing. Tonight, again, was one of those games when things were clicking for both of us, and he was finding me open on the 3-point line. It gives both of us energy and builds the momentum for both of us and the team.”
Obviously, going forward, the Mavericks have to play better defense. They allowed 130 points, which on most nights would have been a loss. That’s the bad, but the good is Doncic and Porzingis. These two players are the stars of this team, and the Mavericks will go as far as they will take them, which could be far if these two continue to play at this level.
Notes:
Friday night marked the 10th time in franchise history that two players each scored 35+ points. The most recent instance before Doncic (46) and Porzingis (36) was 11/20/13 against Houston when Monta Ellis had 37, and Dirk Nowitzki added 35.
The Mavericks made a franchise-record 25 shots from 3-point range tonight, going 55.6% from deep. They also shot a season-high 58.0% from the field.
Dallas finished the game with 30 assists and only six turnovers. This is only the third time this season across the entire NBA that a team has recorded 30+ assists and 6-or-fewer turnovers (PHX on 1/9/21, LAL on 1/15/21).
Leave a Reply