Luka Doncic Exploded For 73 Points In A Mavs Win Over The Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks drafted Luka Doncic third overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. Of course, the team decided to trade him that night for Trae Young, which has worked out pretty well for everyone involved. But on Friday night in Atlanta, Doncic put on a show in the building that he could have called home, as the Dallas Mavericks star exploded for 73 points in a 148-143 win over the Hawks.

Doncic made it clear from the jump that he planned on throwing down a special performance. He had 18 points after the first quarter, and went into the locker room at halftime with 41 points on an ultra-efficient 16-for-21 shooting.

The bad news for the Mavs was that Atlanta was able to keep up with him, as the two teams went into the locker room tied up at 66. That continued to be the case through three, with Dallas only holding onto a 108-102 lead. However, Doncic just would not stop scoring against the team that drafted him, as he had 57 after three.

The scoring continued in the fourth, with Doncic registering the first eight points of the frame for the Mavs in about 90 seconds of work. And then, he stopped scoring for a while, as he hit a nearly 4-minute drought as Atlanta tried their hardest to keep him from putting up points.

While the Hawks did their best to keep him from scoring — and it generally worked, as Doncic would give the ball up, get denied by Dejounte Murray, and just have his teammates play 4-on-4 as he stood near midcourt — Doncic was able to get to the free throw line a few times and pick up some easy points. And with just under three minutes left in the fourth, he was finally able to eclipse 70 by getting out in transition, making a layup, getting fouled, and hitting a free throw.

As Atlanta tried to make one final push in the waning moments of the game, Doncic got to 73 points by once again scoring, getting fouled, and connecting on a free throw.

With his performance, Doncic set the Mavericks franchise single-game scoring record (it was 60 points scored by, shockingly, Luka Doncic) and eclipsed the 70 points Joel Embiid scored earlier this week to set a new league-high this season. He also became the first European player to hit the 70-point mark, and joined Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, and David Thompson as the only players to score at least 73 points in a single game.

Doncic’s 73 points came on a ridiculous 25-for-33 shooting from the field with an 8-for-13 clip from three, and hit he 15 of his 16 attempts from the free throw line. Additionally, he had 10 points and seven assists.