Slovenian star Luka Doncic finished Tuesday with a 41-point triple-double to propel the Dallas Mavericks to a 116-113 victory over the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, in a rematch of the NBA Finals. the Western Conference last season.
The Dallas star added 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the win for the 51st triple-double of his career and fifth this season.
The Mavs, who lost to the Warriors in five games in last season’s conference finals, needed all the "luka’s magic".
Although they took a quick 23-6 lead, the Warriors cut the deficit to one point at halftime thanks in large part to the efforts of their bench, which outscored the Mavs’ reserve 43-29.
Doncic scored 13 points in the third quarter, but the Mavs still couldn’t get rid of the Warriors. The lead changed hands six times in the action-packed fourth quarter that ended with the Mavs snapping a four-game losing streak.
Star Stephen Curry scored 32 points for Golden State, including a 3-pointer on Maxi Kleber for a 110-108 lead with 2:09 to play.
But Doncic fed Tim Hardaway for a 3-pointer and blocked a Curry attempt before teammate Josh Green hit a shot and the Mavericks took the lead for good.
Hardaway scored 22 points for the Mavericks and Spencer Dinwiddie added 14 before being ejected for a flagrant foul after elbowing Jordan Poole in the face early in the fourth quarter.
Knicks at night illuminated
In Detroit, Julius Randle celebrated his 28th birthday with a season-high 36 points as the NY Knicks defeated the hometown Pistons 140-110.
"i’m getting old"Randle joked in a postgame interview with the MSG Network after a standout performance that included seven rebounds, five assists and one steal. "I have to appreciate these games".
Quentin Grimes, Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett each scored 16 points for the Knicks and Immanuel Quickley added 15 off the bench.
The Knicks had lost four of their previous five games, but extended their winning streak against Detroit to 11 games.
The Pistons, who haven’t beaten the Knicks since January 2020, were led by 19 points from Isaiah Stewart, who returned to action after missing seven games with a sprained toe.
Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic scored 13 in his return from injury, but two regular starters for the Pistons, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Ivey, sat out the game.
The Pistons had put together a 20-9 run to take a 45-44 lead with 8:09 remaining in the second quarter.
But the Knicks responded with a 24-8 run to take a 70-56 halftime lead.
The Knicks outscored the Pistons 38-21 in the third, which Randle led off with three baskets, one of them a dunk that Stewart countered and pushed Randle for a technical foul.
The Knicks led 108-77 going into the fourth quarter, which Randle and the rest of the New York starters already watched from the bench.
In the third and final game of the day, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 118-112 with 32 points from Normal Powell.