FILE–Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks. Tom Pennington/Getty Images/AFP
Dallas star Luka Doncic poured in a career-high 51 points to propel the Mavericks to a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Slovenian was unstoppable from the opening tip-off, scoring 28 points in the first quarter when he made seven of 10 three-point attempts.
“I felt great,” Doncic said after his first 50-point game, in which he connected on 65 percent of his shots from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. “I felt energy. The shots were hitting, they were switching, they didn’t want me to create, I guess.
“I’m tired as hell right now,” the 22-year-old added.
😅 Hey @BobanMarjanovic how many points did Luka score? pic.twitter.com/6V7FcLt3m9
— NBA (@NBA) February 11, 2022
It was the 17th time in Doncic’s career that he scored 40 or more points. His previous career-high was 46.
“It was a really fun thing to watch,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “I didn’t have to do much, just tried to stay out of the way.”
Six of Doncic’s top eight scoring performances have come against the Clippers. But even though they have struggled to contain him, Los Angeles stayed in touch. They cut a double-digit deficit to three points in the final quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.
The game was a rematch of a 2021 Western Conference first-round playoff series won by the Clippers in seven games.