Remember when Luka Doncic said it’s easier to score in the NBA than in Europe?
He proved that he might be right again Friday night, proving that he almost can’t be stopped.
The Mavericks star exploded for a franchise-record 73 points in a 148-143 win over the Hawks just days after Joel Embiid scored 70 for the 76ers and Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 62 for the Timberwolves on Monday.
Doncic’s total was the most points anyone has scored in an NBA game since the late Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game on Jan. 22, 2006.
Doncic and his 73 made up nearly half of the Mavericks’ points in a five-point victory.
He also grabbed 10 rebounds, becoming just the fifth player in NBA history with 70 points and at least 10 boards in the same game.
Doncic, who was named an All-Star starter for the Western Conference on Thursday, put together only the 15th 70-point game in NBA history.
He is just the 10th player ever to reach the milestone.
“I was just going, you know?” Doncic said after the game. “What the defense gives me. In the second half, they doubled me all the time so I tried to make some plays.”
At one point in the effort, even Hawks fans at State Farm Arena began getting behind Doncic, and “MVP” chants could be heard as he was going off, which he acknowledged post-game.
“I heard some MVP [chants] too,” he said when asked if he heard the crowd. “It was beautiful.”
“Incredible performance,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after the game.
Since being selected No. 3 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, Doncic has been named an All-Star five consecutive times and has been first-team All-NBA in each of the previous four seasons.
Doncic came into the contest averaging 33.6 points, 9.3 assists and 8.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and a career-best 37.3 percent from 3-point land.
Doncic and the Mavericks are now 25-20 and sitting in eighth in the Western Conference, but are nearing a top-five spot in the tight standings.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker also had a monster night Friday, scoring 62 points against the Pacers in a 133-131 loss.