Doncic's 51 Points Push Mavs Past Spurs; Dallas Extends Win Streak to 6 Games
While many prepare to start their New Year's resolutions in 2023, the Dallas Mavericks just need to keep on doing what they've been doing – winning.
Despite having multiple key injuries over the last two weeks, the Mavs have managed to rattle off six consecutive wins on the back of Luka Doncic's MVP-level play. The latest win came on Saturday night at AT&T Center, as the Mavs outlasted the San Antonio Spurs, 126-125. Dallas improved to 21-16 and moved to fourth-place in the Western Conference standings, and San Antonio dropped to 12-24.
Doncic led the way with 51 points on 18-29 shooting, and the Mavs needed every drop of it to squeeze past the Spurs. It's not ideal for the Mavs to have to rely on Doncic to score as much as he did to barely beat a bottom-dwelling team, but we'd be lying if we didn't admit that it makes for good theater. Doncic also had six rebounds, nine assists, four blocks and one steal in 37 minutes.
"50 is going to be our goal," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich before the game. "We're holding Luka under 50. Quote."
Whether he was joking or not, someone might want to tell Pop that Doncic takes those challenges seriously.
The top-five scoring games of Doncic's career all happened in 2022, including a career-high 60 points he dropped against the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. He became the first player since James Harden in 2019 to score 50+ points three times in a five-game span. Harden was 30 years old at the time. Doncic is just 23.
Christian Wood had himself a nice outing as well, as he finished with 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 29 minutes. He shot 10-15 from the field, including 4-7 from deep. The Mavs are now 6-1 when Wood and Doncic start together.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Spencer Dinwiddie were the only other Mavericks to score in double-figures with 14 and 11 points respectively.
The six-game win streak by the Mavs equals their longest steak of the entire 2021-22 season. Dallas hasn't had a win streak of at least seven games since the 2011 championship season, but they could change that soon.
Next up, the Mavs will start the new year by taking on the Houston Rockets for the fourth and final time this season on Monday night to finish up their quick two-game road trip. After that, Dallas will face-off against the best teams in both conferences at home, as it will take on the Boston Celtics and New Orleans Pelicans next week.
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