Luka Doncic Overtakes Mentor Dirk Nowitzki With Unreal Heroics in Hawks Matchup

Dallas Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic set the stage on fire against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. The Slovenian star went off against the Hawks’s defense, right from the word get-go. The 24-year-old went on to drop 41 points in the first half and tied the Hawks’ score. After dropping over 60% of the team’s score in the first, he created a franchise record, beating his mentor Dirk Nowitzki.

Earlier, Nowitzki held the record for most points scored in the first half with 34 points. The German baller dropped it against the Utah Jazz in 2009. 14 years later, Doncic broke the record with an unreal 7-point margin. As there are two more quarters left in the game, Doncic had the opportunity to beat the season-high score of 70 points set by Joel Embiid.

Even though Nowitzki and Luka Doncic played in two extremely different eras, the duo has developed a special bond with each other. Importantly, Doncic had the opportunity to play alongside the franchise legend for a single season in the 2018-19 season. And, five years down the line, he went on to beat the franchise record by him.

Even the legend himself had recognized Luka’s greatness during his rookie season. Dirk said, “I try to mentor a little bit. Obviously, he’s [Luka] so good already. He’s already better now than I ever was,” reported Sports Illustrated.

On the other hand, Luka’s 41-pointer also went down in the history books for another reason. The Mavs star went to record the 15th 40-plus points in the first half of the 25 years of NBA history.

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Importantly, he went to drop 73 points tonight, beating Embiid’s season-high score.

The hawks put up a tight performance

Even though Doncic put up a starry show, the Hawks weren’t entirely affected by it. The team, in response, had counterattacks from multiple sources. Jalen Johnson, Dejounte Murray, and Trae Young kept the Hawks in the game. While Doncic scored 41 points in the first half, it would be natural to think of the Mavs as having a blow-out lead, but the Hawks tied at the half with 66 points.

Young led the attack with 30 points and 11 assists, supported by Murray with 22 points with 7 assists and Johnson with 25 points. Along with them, Bogdan Bogdanovic dropped 24 points from the bench, keep the home team in the hunt till the last second of the game.

On the other hand, the second high score for the Mavs was 21 points from Josh Green, supported by Tim Hardaway Jr. with 14 points.

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What do you make of Luka’s heroics in tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments below.