Mavericks coach says Doncic ‘as rare as Picasso’
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Dallas star Luka Doncic grabbed a slice of NBA history on Saturday, becoming the first player to post six straight 30-point triple-doubles as the Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons 142-124.
Doncic scored 39 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, eclipsing Russell Westbrook’s mark of five straight 30-point triple-doubles set in the 2016-17 season.
The Slovenian star extended his own NBA record with a fifth-straight triple-double featuring 35 or more points. He added three steals and a pair of blocked shots for good measure.
“That just shows where he’s playing at right now,” said Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd, who has called Doncic’s run of form “as rare as Picasso”.
“[It’s] the level that he’s at [which allows him] to be able to score, and also to be able to find his teammates, and then — lastly — being able to rebound the ball for us to help us on the defensive end,” Kidd said.
Doncic scored 26 points in a back-and-forth first half. That included 21 in the second quarter when Doncic appeared to be galvanised by chants of “Luka sucks” from Pistons fans.
“Well we know he doesn’t suck,” Kidd said. “I think we know he enjoys when people talk to him. If that’s what sparked him, we would like for that to happen a lot more.”
Kyrie Irving added 21 points for Dallas who pushed their lead to 16 points in the third quarter and opened the fourth on a 7-0 scoring run.
Cade Cunningham scored 33 points with 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Pistons.
But it was another night of frustration for Detroit, and it boiled over in the fourth when Jalen Duren was ejected for a hard shove of P J Washington.
Washington had nudged Duren aside to help up teammate Daniel Gafford, after Duren had fouled him under the basket.
The league-leading Boston Celtics avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season with a 117-107 victory over Kevin Durant and the Suns in Phoenix.
Jayson Tatum shook off a slow start to score 29 points and grab 10 rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 27 points for Boston, who were coming off losses to Cleveland and reigning NBA champions Denver.
Durant scored 45 points and Bradley Beal added 25 but the Suns, who were without injured All-Star Devin Booker, trailed most of the night.
