Dallas believes in Luka magic. Today, the Mavericks witnessed a scoring marvel.
Luka Doncic had the best playing night of his career as he scored a franchise record of 73 points against the team that drafted him, the Atlanta Hawks, to win 148-143.
He became this season's highest scorer in a single game, just a few days after Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid made a franchise milestone with 70 points.HISTORIC 73-POINT NIGHT FROM LUKA DONCIC 🤯
— NBA (@NBA) January 27, 2024
🔥 73 PTS
🔥 25/33 FGM (75.8%)
🔥 15/16 FTM
🔥 8 3PM
He becomes the 4th player in NBA history to score 73+ points and the first ever to score 70+ on 75% or higher from the field. pic.twitter.com/Afm9cyJung
Doncic now belongs to an exclusive ball club of players scoring 73+ points in a single game. He is tied at fourth with David Thompson and Wilt Chamberlan.Amazing, man. #MFFL pic.twitter.com/ioqjYljBmY
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) January 27, 2024
The Hawks couldn’t stop Luka early in the match as he fired 41 points by halftime, which broke Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki’s record of 34 in the second half against Utah on November 3, 2009.Wilt Chamberlain – 03.02.62, PHI v NY: 100 points
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) January 27, 2024
Kobe Bryant – 01.22.06, LAL v TOR: 81 points
Wilt Chamberlain – 12.08.61, PHI v LA: 78 points
Luka Doncic - 01.26.24, DAL v ATL: 73 points
David Thompson – 04.09.78, DEN v DET: 73 points
Wilt Chamberlain – 11.16.72, SF v NY: 73… https://t.co/suBcgOx9h6 pic.twitter.com/ogF6HppDMs
Nowitzki had to give Doncic his flowers.41 FIRST-HALF POINTS FOR LUKA 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Hd8xQUZdfp
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 27, 2024
Luka 🔥🔥🔥
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) January 27, 2024
In the last quarter with about 10:23 remaining, it seemed that Luka would add more to his 65 markers but the Hawks at this point really focused on locking him down.
The 2024 NBA West All-Star starter allowed his teammates to get their share of the ball, giving him seven assists and allowing the offense to flow freely. Ultimately, this led to a Mavs win.
Josh Green and Tim Hardaway Jr. supplied some of the team’s scoring with 21 points and 13 points respectively.
Star guard Trae Young returned to the Hawks after missing two games due to the NBA’s concussion protocol. He scored 30 points and dished out 11 assists in the loss.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
