Luka Doncic Scores 53 in Mavs’ Narrow Win vs. Pistons
After being sidelined due to a sprained ankle, Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic returned to the lineup for Monday's 111-105 win over the Detroit Pistons. The Mavs improve to 27-25 on the season by achieving the victory.
Doncic wasted no time making an impact, leading the Mavs to a 10-0 lead. The Pistons quickly rallied back and even took a 16-15 lead at the 4:41 mark of the opening period. Doncic scored 24 of his team's 30 points in the opening period, achieving the third-highest-scoring quarter of his NBA career. The superstar's heroics was enough to give Dallas a 30-27 advantage.
The only quarter the Pistons held a positive scoring differential was the second period, outscoring the Mavs by a 30-23 margin. Not much was going right for players wearing a Maverick uniform not-named-Luka throughout much of the opening half.
Doncic had still outscored his teammates as of the end of the third quarter. It was a genuine struggle for his supporting cast to execute despite consistently receiving chances to play in 4-on-3 situations with Doncic getting doubled. Despite this, the Mavs trailed 84-83 to this point.
With Doncic on the bench, the Mavs' second unit put together a strong start to the final period to overtake the lead. Doncic checked back in to continue to carry Dallas' long enough to ensure victory by routinely making big plays in clutch time when the offense required it.
Doncic finished with 53 points, tying Dirk Nowitzki for the second-highest scoring performance in franchise history, while adding eight rebounds and five assists. It was the fifth game of Doncic's career reaching the 50-point threshold. He accounts for five of the nine performances meeting that mark in team history.
The rest of the Mavs struggled to keep pace with Doncic. He accounted for nearly half of the team's points in just 36 minutes on 24 shots. The non-Luka Mavs had 58 points while taking 55 shots while playing for a combined 204 minutes of action.
The Mavs return to action on Thursday when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans to wrap up a short two-game stretch at the American Airlines Center.
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