Luka Doncic scored 50 points to eclipse 10,000 for his career and had 14 assists, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 win over the Phoenix Suns
Doncic scores 50 points to eclipse 10,000 for career, Mavericks beat Suns 128-114By JOHN MARSHALLAP Sports WriterThe Associated PressPHOENIX
PHOENIX (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 50 points to eclipse 10,000 for his career and had 14 assists, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
Doncic capped a Christmas Day full of NBA games with a stellar performance, hitting 8 of 16 from 3 and all 12 of his free throws. He eclipsed 10,000 career points in the first quarter to reach the milestone in 358 career games, seventh fastest in NBA history. .
Dereck Lively II had 20 points and 10 rebounds after missing the previous four games with an ankle sprain and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points in Dallas’ ninth straight game without Kyrie Irving (heel).
Chimezie Metu and Grayson Allen gave the Suns a lift off a bench that’s been a weak spot at times this season.
Allen scored 19 of his 32 points in the third quarter to help the Suns rally from a 15-point deficit and went 8 of 17 from 3. Metu had 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds with big man Jusuf Nurkic missing his second straight game due to personal reasons.
Dallas went on a 17-4 run midway through the fourth quarter and pulled away from there to send Phoenix to its ninth loss in 12 games.
Doncic had a 39-point triple-double in a win over San Antonio his last game and got off to a sizzling start in the desert.
He welcomed Lively back by setting him up with two easy baskets at the rim. Doncic started looking for his shot after that, scoring 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter to give the Mavericks a 36-24 lead.
Doncic returned in the second quarter to hit a step-back 3-pointer and found Derrick Jones Jr. for a soaring alley-oop. Doncic had 24 points and eight assists to give Dallas a 64-54 halftime lead.
The Suns were disjointed offensively most of the first half, missing 13 straight shots starting late in the first quarter. Phoenix kept Dallas within reach behind Metu’s 13 points by getting to the line, hitting 12 of 14 free throws in the first half.
The Suns had better ball movement to open the third quarter, using penetration to get open looks while cutting Dallas’ lead to 75-71. Phoenix took the lead on Allen’s 3-pointer and things got testy late in the third quarter when Dallas’ Grant Williams pulled Devin Booker by his jersey.
The Mavericks used their big run to go up eight and stretched it to 14 on Doncic’s runner in the closing seconds.
UP NEXT
Dallas: Hosts Cleveland on Wednesday.
Phoenix: Plays at Houston on Wednesday.
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