Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis dazzle for Dallas Mavericks
Monday 4 November 2019 11:11, UK
The Dallas Mavericks' European duo of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis showcased their potential as they dominated against the Cleveland Cavaliers, with both players having historic nights for their team.
When Porzingis was acquired from the New York Knicks via trade at the start of the year, the Mavs were hoping he and Doncic could form a powerful pairing on both ends of the floor.
In the 131-111 victory in Cleveland, they certainly did that.
Doncic finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 15 assists for the Mavericks as he became the youngster player in NBA history to record consecutive 25-point triple-doubles.
The 15 assists equalled a career-best, set Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers when he went for 31 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists. It also saw Doncic become the second player in franchise history with back-to-back 15-assist games, joining Jason Kidd.
"He's a magician with the basketball and at that size, it's hard to stop," Cavaliers forward Kevin Love said. "I can't say enough good things about him. It's unbelievable, even from last year when he was extremely impressive, but this year he's taken it to a whole new level."
Porzingis, when he came into the league was dubbed 'The Unicorn' for combining elite shot-swatting ability and a huge wingspan with being a great shooter from beyond the arc.
In that sense, he's very much the archetype 'stretch-big' which has become so prevalent in the modern era.
Against the Cavaliers, he became the first Dallas player to record at least six blocks and four three pointers in a single game.
Porzingis fell just one rebound short of a double-double to go with the big number of blocks. The Latvian had 18 points, shooting 50 per cent from the floor overall, and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Doncic, meanwhile, joined Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to record 25/10/15 in back-to-back games.
His 29/14/15 game was just the 20th in NBA history. The only other players to do it since 1987 are James Harden in 2016 and Nikola Jokic last February.
It was a memorable night for the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year in all senses of the word with the Sunday's night's performance fittingly coming on Slovenian Heritage Night in Cleveland.
The Ohio city has the largest Slovenian population in the United States around 250 of the superstar's compatriots came, many of them carrying Slovenian flags and wearing Doncic jerseys.
The player was delighted by the reception and rewarded the crowd with a special performance.
He said: "It was just something special to hear, even the Slovenian song.
"I appreciate the Cleveland Cavaliers for putting that song in. They didn't have to and they did. It was just something special to do.
Porzingis reckons the commanding performance - which took Dallas to 3-0 on the road this season after winning just nine throughout all of last year - lay down a marker that they're a potential playoff team even in a stacked Western Conference.
He said: "Winning on the road is always hard, no matter who you play against.
"I think it's very important for us. We had this mindset that today was a must-win game if we want to make the playoffs.
"I think that's something everybody had in their minds if we want to be that calibre of team."
Doncic was particularly pleased with how his team responded after they lost out in overtime in Friday night's thriller against the Lakers.
He said: "This was a tricky game tonight. They play hard. They have some talent. And we came back from a game we could have won, against the Lakers, a championship team.
""I enjoy playing basketball and I had a lot of fun tonight, for sure. I want to play good every game because I have a lot of fun playing basketball.
"This was a tricky game for us and everybody showed up and played the game and played hard.
"But we've started good and we've just got to keep going strong."
