Luka Doncic magic but Dallas Mavericks fall to Minnesota Timberwolves in NBA
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Minnesota Timberwolves centre Karl-Anthony Towns grabs a rebound in front of Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd admitted that it was “one of those nights” when Luka Doncic scored 39 points but could not prevent the Mavs falling to a 119-101 home defeat against the top-of-the-table Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec 14.
Slovenian star Doncic extended his run of consecutive 30-point National Basketball Association (NBA) games to nine after shooting 15-of-27 from the field in an entertaining duel with Western Conference-leading Minnesota.
It was also the 24-year-old’s 78th game scoring 35 points or more, tying the mark of revered Dallas icon Dirk Nowitzki, the sixth-highest scorer in NBA history.
Nowitzki, who played 21 seasons for the Texas franchise, achieved his tally of 35-point games in 1,522 appearances; Doncic has matched that total in 353 games.
“It’s just one of those nights,” Kidd said. “We got great looks, they just didn’t go down for us tonight.
“So we can’t be discouraged. There’s a lot of positive things. Minnesota’s the best team in the league and we felt we were playing well. Give them credit. But again, we had some great looks.”
The Mavs looked ready to upset the Wolves after taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter. But Minnesota came back to cut the lead to one point at half-time and then outscored Dallas 60-41 in the second half to seal victory.
Naz Reid led the Minnesota scoring with 27 off the bench with Karl-Anthony Towns adding 21 but Anthony Edwards was held to just nine points.
Dallas were left ruing an inability to make shots from three-point range. Doncic made just two-of-seven from beyond the arc, Grant Williams was one-of-seven and Tim Hardaway Jr missed all his seven attempts.
Minnesota’s victory leaves them top of the West with an 18-5 record.
Reigning champions Denver Nuggets kept up their pursuit of the Wolves with a 124-101 rout of the Brooklyn Nets to improve to 17-9.
Denver star Nikola Jokic had 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists – the Serb’s 10th triple-double of the season.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player is the only player to have at least 10 triple-doubles in seven straight seasons.
“With Nikola, life becomes a lot easier,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
“He’s just a heck of a player. But what I was probably most pleased about was Nikola’s defence. I wanted to be aggressive. I want to be at a level to be disruptive and I think Nikola set the tone with that tonight.”
In Boston, the Celtics extended their unbeaten home record to 12 games with a 116-107 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a two-game sweep.
Jayson Tatum led the scoring with 27 points for the Celtics, who head the Eastern standings on 18-5, ahead of the second-placed Milwaukee Bucks (17-7).
Tatum received scoring support from Jaylen Brown, with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and six rebounds.
In Los Angeles, the Golden State Warriors slumped to their 14th defeat of the season in a 121-113 loss to the Clippers.
James Harden shone with 28 points for the home side, with Kawhi Leonard adding 27.
Klay Thompson led the Warriors’ scoring with 30 points. AFP
