Chamberlain, Kobe... and Luka Doncic

Josh Green, the Australian forward, said the experience surpassed even the most epic video game nights after his teammate put up 73 points. “Not even in 2K have I seen anything like it.” His coach, Jason Kidd, remembered what James Harden said about himself being the game system of his teams: “If some are the system, he is directly our game plan.” Luka Doncic, on the other hand, focused on the fact that his Mavericks had lost three in a row and the waters were uneven, between skids and troubles with referees and fans: “Things were not going well, and I was focused on us winning the game.” Of course, he also said that “probably” this had been the best game of his career.

Probably yes, Luka.

The Dallas Mavericks, with a record of 25-20, won against the Atlanta Hawks with a score of 148-143. The victory helped them break the losing streak of three consecutive defeats.

Luka Doncic, the Mavericks’ star player, led the team to victory with 73 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. He talked about the importance of avoiding disconnections and anger with the world, which have been a problem for him. Doncic also set a new record for the most points scored by a European player in the NBA. Only three American players in the history of the NBA - Wilt Chamberlain (four times), Kobe Bryant (once), and David Thompson (once) - have scored more points than Doncic did in this game. The data is impressive and highlights Doncic’s exceptional talent.

The Dallas Mavericks basketball team scored a total of 148 points in their game against the Atlanta Hawks. However, only three players contributed at least 10 points each, namely Doncic, Green, and 13 points from Tim Hardaway Jr. The Hawks, who had lost four games in a row and had a record of 18-27, tried their best until the end, when a pair of 2+1s took Doncic’s score to 70 and, finally, 73. Doncic made 25 out of 33 field goals, including 8 out of 13 in threes and 15 out of 16 in free throws. This was his first game with at least 70 points and 75% shooting. He also achieved the best actual shooting percentage of 70, which measures all shots, including personnel shots, at 91.2%. He created a total of 100 points on the court through his scoring or assists.

Interestingly, on June 21, 2018, the Atlanta Hawks selected Doncic with the third pick in the draft but traded him to the Mavericks in exchange for pick 5, Trae Young, and a future choice that ended up being Cam Reddish. Trae Young returned to the game after missing a few games due to a concussion and finished with 30 points and 11 assists. However, this was not enough for the Hawks to win the game, as they tried everything against Doncic, including using Jalen Johnson, Saddiq Bey, and Dejounte Murray to guard him.

Doncic had been chosen as an all-star for the fifth time (fourth as a starter) just over 24 hours before the game and had joined a list of illustrious players, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Anthony Davis, and Isiah Thomas, who had five all-star selections before turning 25. Doncic has also become the only player, along with Michael Jordan, to have more than one 60-point game before turning 25. He achieved this feat at the age of 24 years and 332 days. Even if the limit is lowered to 50 points, the list is still impressive, with Chamberlain having achieved this feat 13 times, Jordan nine times, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James eight times, and Doncic seven times.

The tenth player that reaches 70 points

In the history of the NBA, there have been only fifteen games where a player scored at least 70 points. Luka Doncic has become the tenth player to reach this milestone, following in the footsteps of six players who bear Chamberlain’s signature. Interestingly, in just over a year, we have seen four such games, including Embiid’s 70 points the other day, Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard’s 71 points in January 2023, and now Doncic’s 73 points. Doncic scored 18 points in the first quarter, 23 in the second, 16 in the third, and another 16 in the fourth. He joined Embiid and David Robinson as the only players with at least 10 rebounds and 5 assists, along with 70 points. Doncic had an outstanding performance, scoring 41 points at halftime with a 17/22 shooting record, including 6/9 from beyond the arc. This match was the first time he scored 25 baskets in a single game.

But it was, and is not the day to debate how sustainable or healthy that is, what his team needed, again without the injured Kyrie Irving and also without Derrick Jones Jr, struck down during the game. And it was what a unique, obviously special player needed, who sometimes gets tangled up with his contradictions and his issues but who is capable of doing practically anything when he is on a basketball court. It is advisable not to get distracted by looking the other way because, with it, bad news never lasts too long.

The Mavericks arrived in Atlanta at a delicate moment, nervous and with the feeling that their season had, at the very least, stalled. And they come out of a game that had become difficult clinging to their franchise player, the Slovenian boy who continues to devour all the records that Dirk Nowitzki broke on the Texan team. Clinging to the genius of a Doncic who averaged more than 33 points this season and who reached, in Atlanta, a peak that only three players in all of history had known before. From now on we have Chamberlain’s 100 points, Kobe’s 81, another 78 from Chamberlain and, right after, Doncic’s 73 in a milestone that was also reached by Thompson and twice more by the impossible Chamberlain. And only Kobe had reached it since 1978. It’s so dizzying to think about where Doncic will end up, what his resume will be like in a few years and how many more times we will have to write that he has achieved something that leaves behind the greatest atrocities in video games. It will finally be what Jason Kidd says: Luka Doncic is not the system; he is the entire game plan.