On Monday night in the NBA, there was a scoring explosion. Minnesota’s Karl Anthony Towns had a career-high 62 points in a losing effort, and Philly’s Joel Embiid was even better as he scored a career-high 70 points, the most points scored in a game this season as the 76ers defeated the Spurs.
On Friday night, Mavs’ Luka Doncic was even better. Doncic was 25/33 from the field, including eight threes, to go along with ten rebounds, and seven assists. More importantly, he scored 16 points in the fourth as the Mavs got a big road win over the Hawks 148-143.
Doncic’s 73 points are tied for the fourth-most points scored in a game in NBA history, and it is the most points scored in a game this season.
In addition, Doncic, who was selected by the Hawks before being traded for Trae Young on draft day, had 41 points (16-21 FG) in the first half, a new franchise record for points in a single half.
“He is the game plan,” Kidd said of Doncic. “Some say they are the system; he is the game plan.”
Doncic’s 73 points were the most any player has had since Kobe Bryant’s 81 in 2006; ironically, Friday was the fourth anniversary of Bryant’s death, which Doncic discussed after his big performance.
“It’s amazing; it’s very special,” Doncic said. “We all love Kobe, man. It was a big tragedy. I can’t believe it’s been four years already. It’s special… Obviously, I wish he was still here.”
Another interesting side note is that Doncic said he could have been better in warmups.
“Today, in my warmups, I missed a lot of shots,” he said. “So, you never know.”
Doncic is a special player, and as we saw with Embiid, when exceptional players get going, you’ll see nights like this. Ironically, on the night Doncic had 73, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, like Towns, scored 62 points, and like Towns, his team would lose.
Dallas plays the second half of a back-to-back at home against the Kings.
