NBA star Luka Doncic fires again for Mavs
Shayne Hope |
Luka Doncic has racked up a ninth triple-double of the NBA season to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 127-117 win over New Orleans.
The Slovenian superstar finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
It was his third triple-double from his past six games, with the hot streak including the first 60-20-10 game in league history.
Christian Wood (28 points) and Tim Hardaway (18) also fired as the Mavericks (23-17) won for the eighth time in nine games.
New Orelans were without their three leading scorers – Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum – as Jonas Valanciunas (25 points) and Naji Marshall (24) tried to pick up the slack.
But they were no match for the Mavericks, who built a first-quarter lead when Wood took control early in the game.
Elsewhere, Boston maintained the league’s best record with a Jayson Tatum-inspired 121-116 win over San Antonio.
Tatum scored a game-high 34 points, including a tiebreaking jumper with 33 seconds remaining, and was the subject of “MVP! MVP!” chants from the crowd before half-time.
Teammate Jaylen Brown added 29 points as the Celtics’ sixth win in eight games improved their record to 28-12.
The Spurs never led but were in the hunt without injured starters Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Jakob Poeltl thanks to 18 points each from Josh Richardson, Zach Collins and Tre Jones.
LeBron James scored a game-high 37 points as the Los Angeles Lakers won a fifth straight game, beating Sacramento 136-134.
Dennis Schroder made a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds left to put the Lakers ahead before Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (34 points) missed a half-court shot on the buzzer.
Zach LaVine (26 points) was the difference for Chicago in a 126-118 win over Utah, making three consecutive triples in a crucial run during the final quarter.
DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points, while ex-Bulls player Lauri Markkanen top-scored for the Jazz with 28 points.
Golden State suffered a second straight home loss, this time 115-101 to Orlando.
AAP
