Dirk Nowitzki, NBA World Go Bonkers As Luka Doncic Scores 73 Points vs. Hawks
Luka Dončić was on fire Friday night at State Farm Arena.
The Dallas Mavericks star poured in a career-high 73 points to lead his team to a 148–143 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Dončić also chipped in 10 rebounds and seven assists while shooting 25-of-33 from the field.
Dončić broke the Mavericks’ single-game scoring record with the 73-point flurry, besting a 60-point performance by himself against the New York Knicks in December 2022.
It was tied for the fourth-highest scoring effort in NBA history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain (100 points), Kobe Bryant (81 points) and Chamberlain again (78 points). Dončić is the 10th player in league history to score 70 or more points and the fourth to do so in the last year.
Fellow Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki was watching the game and weighed in on social media:
Luka ????????????
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) January 27, 2024
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, who once named Dončić as his favorite player to watch aside from teammate Steph Curry, chimed in as well:
Luka Unreal ????????????????! They traded Luka right?
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) January 27, 2024
They sure did, Draymond. The Hawks drafted Dončić with the No. 3 pick in the 2018 NBA draft but traded him to the Mavericks that same night.
The rest of the NBA world joined Nowitzki and Green in their amazement:
You just have to know how to defend Luka. Force him to
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) January 27, 2024
his left and get “right up on him”. That’s the key. You will hold him to 72 points every single time.
There have been two 70-point games within the last five days: Joel Embiid on Monday & Luka Doncic tonight.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 27, 2024
This is the shortest time between such occurrences in NBA history. The previous shortest was a 14-day span (Nov. 3-16, 1962 - both by Wilt Chamberlain. pic.twitter.com/M0AMWj20gI
Luka Doncic tonight: pic.twitter.com/3Daz0UaTpj
— NBAĆentel (@TheNBACentel) January 27, 2024
I know he was flabbergasted that Luka dropped 73 https://t.co/NiYElwUGxU pic.twitter.com/mqsrWb1D5d
— NBA University (@NBA_University) January 27, 2024
Luka looking at Devin Booker get 62 in a loss while he gets 73 in a win pic.twitter.com/9RhQcxQRyV
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 27, 2024
Somebody going to score a 100 before the season over!
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) January 27, 2024
Damn I miss Defense in the NBA
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) January 27, 2024