Doncic ‘advances’ Christmas and scores 50 points against Rockets

HOUSTON (AP) — luka doncic scored a season-high 50 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks held on to beat the Houston Rockets 112-106 on Friday night.

Doncic, who also had 10 assists and eight rebounds, was 17 of 30 from the field, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range. It was the second 50-point game of his career.

“Sometimes you know you’re going to take more shots than usual,” Doncic said. “When you feel hot, you feel like everything is going to come in.”

He scored a career-high 51 against the Clippers on February 10, 2022.

Dallas coach Jason Kidd called Doncic’s 50 points “a great Christmas present on a long road trip.”

“Luka is Luka,” Kidd said. “He’s the best player in the world. He showed it tonight, carrying the charge offensively… I don’t know what else to say about him. He was incredible tonight.”

Houston coach Stephen Silas said Houston’s defensive game plan was good, but there was “too much Luka.”

“I’m not sure he made an easy shot,” Silas said. “We made every difficult shot and that’s the greatness of a great player… That’s what Luka does.”

Tied at 94 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining, the Mavs went on an 11-3 run to open an eight-point lead on a 3-pointer by Doncic, who blew a kiss to the crowd. The Rockets responded with seven straight points to cut the lead to 105-104 on Sengun’s layup with 3:13 to play.

After Bertans hit a 3-pointer to increase the lead to four, Smith cut it to two with a jumper with 1½ minutes remaining. The two teams traded turnovers and missed shots before Doncic hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining to give the Mavs a five-all lead.

“We pivoted the ball and Tim (Hardaway Jr.) flipped it back from the corner and found Luka wide open,” Kidd said of Doncic’s 3-pointer to seal the win. “Luka did the rest. When you’re this hot, sometimes you don’t have to move the ball. Someone else did all the work for him, and the ball found him.”