It was a much discussed trade when it happened, and following Friday night’s 73 point outburst, one can’t help but think the Atlanta Hawks may be experiencing some buyers remorse after their 2018 draft day trade with the Dallas Mavericks.
Luka Doncic, originally selected 3rd overall by the Hawks before being flipped to Dallas in exchange for Trae Young and a protected 2019 1st rounder, dropped an astounding 73 points against his “former club” on Friday night, setting a Mavericks franchise record in the process. And Dallas needed everyone of those points to hold on for a 148-143 victory to snap their 3 game losing skid.
Doncic made 25 of 33 attempts from the field (75.8 FG%), and 8 of 13 from beyond the arc (61.5 3P%), while racking up 10 rebounds and 7 assists on the night. He was nearly perfect from the free throw line as well going 15 of 16 (93.8 FT%) from the charity stripe.
The 6’7″ Slovenian’s offensive explosion was not only a career high, but also marked just the 6th time in NBA history that a player registered 73 or more points in a game. Doncic joins Kobe Bryant (81), Wilt Chamberlain (100, 78, 73) and David Thompson (73) as the only players to accomplish the feat.
“We can’t take him for granted,” Mavericks head coach Kidd told reporters after the game. “What he does on the court is different from everybody else.”
“This was a different Luka,” Kidd continued. “He does get emotional on the court. He does get shy off the court. He played at a different level with his shyness tonight.”
Sitting at 41 points by halftime, fans and players alike knew they were witnessing a special performance Friday. “I’ve never seen anyone make it look this easy,” said Markieff Morris after all was said and done.
Luka’s big night capped off what’s been a wild week across the NBA. Over the last 5 days, the league has seen Doncic’s 73 point performance, reigning MVP Joel Embiid score 70 points in a game, and matching 62 point outbursts from Suns guard Devin Booker and Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns.
However not everyone was a fan of avalanche of points being scored this past week. Former Celtics forward Paul Pierce took to social media to reminisce about the good ol’ days saying “damn I miss defense in the NBA”.
While the now retired Boston legend was quickly called out for his take online by many, he’s far from alone in his opinion. If the season were to end today, 2023-24 would represent the 6th highest scoring season in NBA history. With teams averaging 115.6pts per night, that represents a 24 point increase from the 1998-99 season (91.6pts) which would have been Pierce’s rookie campaign.
Regardless, one cannot deny that Doncic is having another All-NBA calibre season, averaging career highs in points (34.6), assists (9.2), free throw percentage (.777), three point percentage (.381), blocks (0.6) and steals (1.4) per game.
The 25-20 Mavericks are next in action Saturday night at 9pm ET as they play host to the visiting Sacramento Kings who sit 1 game up on Dallas in the jam packed Western Conference standings.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.