Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A15

December 3, 2019

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » Basketball

Doncic shines as Mavs snap Lakers’ streak

Source: AP | 00:00 UTC+8 December 3, 2019 | Print Edition

Luka Doncic dribbled up to LeBron James, stepped back and coolly drained a 3-pointer from well behind the line. The Dallas Mavericks’ driving force then threw a telling stare toward Dirk Nowitzki at courtside before he headed off to wrap up a major win.

When the Mavs visited Staples Center a year ago, Doncic was nervous before he faced his boyhood idol, and he sought an autographed jersey afterward.

Although the Slovenian youngster still admires the veteran star, Doncic is showing he belongs in the same galaxy.

Doncic scored 21 of his 27 points in a dynamic second half, and the Mavericks snapped the Los Angeles Lakers’ 10-game winning streak with a 114-100 victory on Sunday.

Doncic also had 10 assists and 9 rebounds in Dallas’ seventh victory in eight games. The Mavs erased a halftime deficit with a 28-5 run in an excellent third quarter led by Doncic, who had 16 points and 5 assists in the third after going 2 for 9 in a self-described “awful” first half.

“It’s a great win that means a lot to us,” Doncic said. “It shows that we can play against big teams, too. We just need to keep it rolling.”

The Mavs comfortably maintained their big lead in the fourth, and Doncic provided some late showmanship by hitting that fourth 3-pointer over James and staring toward former Mavs star Nowitzki, who had center court seats.

“He hit a couple of hellacious shots,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “There’s just a small handful of guys in the whole world that can hit them. LeBron James is one of them. He’s one of them. Those step-back 30-footers, it’s hard to describe how difficult the shot is, and how easy he makes it look.”

Delon Wright had 17 points and 9 assists, and Kristaps Porzingis added 15 points as Dallas underlined its status as a likely title contender with an inspired second half on the road against the NBA-leading Lakers, who had lost only once in 18 games since their season opener.

James had 25 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists for the Lakers, who dropped to 17-3 by losing this matchup between two of the NBA’s highest-scoring teams.

Elsewhere, it was: Clippers 150, Wizards 125; Heat 109, Nets 106; Celtics 113, Knicks 104; Grizzlies 115, Timberwolves 107; Pistons 132, Spurs 98; Thunder 107, Pelicans 104; Raptors 130, Jazz 110; and Magic 100, Warriors 96.

Basketball



 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend