Luka Doncic just dropped a 73-point bomb against the Atlanta Hawks tonight! Just a few days earlier, Joel Embiid had taken the NBA world by storm with his 70 points against the Spurs. But Doncic just crushed that in a matter of minutes as the Mavs won a hard-fought battle with a 148-143 victory.
The Slovenian superstar finished with 10 rebounds and seven assists aside from the massive 73. And just like that, he joins the league of greats, namely Kobe Bryant, for scoring the most in a single game.
Luka Doncic scored a career-high 73 points tonight, the most in a game since Kobe Bryant's 81 in 2006.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) January 27, 2024
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Bryant had scored 81 straight points in 2006. But he isn’t the only one. The list includes top names like Wilt Chamberlain and David Thompson. Chamberlain leads the list with 100 points (March 2, 1962), with the ‘Black Mamba’ taking the second place. The ‘Big Dipper’ once again takes third place with 78 points, with the next four positions (73 points) tied with Doncic, Thompson, and Chamberlain himself.
Doncic’s 73-point game marks the 15th 70-point game in the league history. And himself; the 10th player in NBA history to achieve the milestone. With this, he surpassed Embiid for the most points scored in a game this season, as well as broke his previous franchise-high record of 60 points in an OT win.
With 73 points tonight in Atlanta, Luka Dončić has:
– The most points in franchise history
– A new career-high
– One of 15 70-point games in NBA history
– Tied-fourth-most points scored in a game in NBA history
– The most points scored in a game this season pic.twitter.com/lgRxjeplJk— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) January 27, 2024
Certainly not a good day to be an Atlanta fan.
The Hawks vs Luka Doncic
The Mavs were on a three-game losing streak, which they very clearly ended tonight. The first half itself saw “The Don” set a franchise record with 41 points. If that wasn’t ominous for the Hawks, the second half made sure to let them know who was in charge.
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Just a minute into the fourth quarter, and Luka had already breezed past his personal-best 60 points. A 26-foot three-pointer gave the international phenom 63 points. Fast forward to three minutes on the clock and the 5x All-Star hit a driving layup and was fouled. The resulting free throw brought him to a tie with Embiid‘s 70 points.
A final three-pointer by Luka on a foul and a made shot saw Doncic finish with 73 points. By then, Dallas had a 143-136 lead. In a desperate final attempt, Trae Young managed to land his own three, cutting the gap to 143-146. But the Mavs were simply too much for the 10th-seeded Hawks as they handed them their fourth loss.
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And to think the Hawks traded Luka Doncic!
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