The Dallas Mavericks won their third straight game Wednesday night, this time against the Golden State Warriors 142-94. Luka Doncic put on another historic performance with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in mere 25 minutes. Eric Paschall scored 22 for Golden State in defeat.
Playing against a supremely depleted Warriors team, the Dallas Mavericks came out hot and heavy early and did not let up. Led by Luka’s absurd 22 points (the highest scoring first quarter this season by any player), the Mavericks poured in 44 in the frame and held the Warriors to a mere 16 points. Dallas essentially held a 30 point lead for most of the second quarter as well, as the Warriors couldn’t stop any Maverick player, despite finally ramping up their own scoring. Dallas led at the half 74-38.
The flame throwing pace for the Mavericks continued into the third quarter, despite Luka Doncic cooling considerably from the field. Dallas lead by as many as 45 points in the period and took a 104-64 lead into the fourth. The bench cleared for Dallas in the final frame with everyone but J.J. Barea seeing the floor (though Barea did tease the crowd late in the game). The Mavericks led by 50 in the closing minute of the game and closed out a 142-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors
Luka is not of this universe
Luka Doncic scored 35 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in a mere 25 minutes. This is the fewest minutes played in a thirty point trible double in NBA history. Putting context to what he’s doing grows more absurd by the game. I’m not a good enough writer to describe it adequately. So instead, here’s some gems from the internet...
According to ESPN Stats and Info and Elias Sports Bureau, Doncic became the first player to out-score, out-rebound, and out-assist an entire team in a quarter since Allen Iverson did it in 2003 versus the Bulls.
Also from ESPN Stats and Info, Luka is the only player with 30 points and five assists on 90% shooting from the floor in a half in the last 20 seasons.
Again from ESPN Stats and Info and Elias Sports Bureau, over the last 10 games Doncic has eclipsed 300 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists. He’s the fifth player to average a 30 point triple double over a 10 game period of time. The other players: LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Michael Jordan, and Oscar Robertson.
This is preposterous and everyone should simply bask in these achievements.
The Moneyball fell and often
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle preached process on media day and pre-season. This was a game tailor-made for results from such process as the Mavericks poured it in from downtown
22 three point makes, 58% from behind the arc, with eight different Dallas players connecting on a long ball. Whew.
Jalen Brunson continues to make a quiet case
After a rough start to the season, Jalen Brunson has rebounded in quiet fashion the past three games. As noted by Sam, Brunson was key in the Spurs victory and made another case for a defined role against the Warriors.
He was bound to turn his poor start around but between the questions on the Dallas bench and the pressure to rack up early wins, it got murky for a while as to where Brunson would fit. He should continue this steady play for 15 or so minutes a night for the foreseeable future.
BONUS THING: Blowouts are hard to cover
When the good guys go up by 30 in the first period, it’s hard to know where to focus. There are a million things to choose from and at times I don’t know where to start. Tim Hardaway shot lights out. Ryan Broekhoff PLAYED. Porzingis shot the ball poorly early then started getting the ball on the move and looked like a world beater. Jeff Van Gundy sucks. Courtney Lee, basketball player! The list goes on. We’ll hit on some of these things on the podcast.
Here’s the postgame podcast, Mavs Moneyball After Dark. If you can’t see the embed below “More from Mavs Moneyball” below, click here. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe by searching “Mavs Moneyball podcast” into your favorite podcast app.