Mavericks’ Doncic has November to remember
Rockets’ Harden pours in 60 in romp past Atlanta
PHOENIX — Adding one more spectacular game to a November full of them, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic provided more evidence that he’s quickly emerging as one of the best players in the NBA.
Doncic tied a careerhigh with 42 points in a 120-113 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night and narrowly missed a triple-double with 11 assists and nine rebounds. The performance assured that he would become just the third player in NBA history to average a 30-point triple-double over a calendar month.
He averaged 32.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 10.4 assists over 15 games in November. The only other two players to accomplish the same feat are Oscar Robertson (five times) and Russell Westbrook (twice), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I’ve learned over my many years not to take anything for granted,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s just an exceptional player. Exceptional person. Exceptionally tough. You don’t find that combination in 20-year-old guys coming into the NBA very often.
Doncic was at his best on Friday against the Suns, controlling every aspect of the game. There were times when he would dribble into the lane and the Phoenix defense would be frozen, unsure of how to stop him.
“We play our best when we get in the paint,” Doncic said. “That’s the key for us.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 26 points for the Mavericks, but the team’s usual second-leading scorer, Kristaps Porzingis, finished with just two points and missed all eight of his shots from the field.
It didn’t matter, though. Doncic wasn’t going to let this one get away. The Mavs improved to 12-6, which is their best start since they won an NBA title in the 2010-11 season.
“That’s who he is,” Phoenix coach Monty Williams said of Doncic. “Porzingis didn’t have it going, so he’s hitting shots seven, eight feet behind the 3-point line. You’ve got to get up. And then finishing at the basket, some of those shots, I thought we played good defense, he just got around us.”
Saturday
ROCKETS 158, HAWKS 111: In Houston, James Harden scored a seasonhigh 60 points in 31 minutes as Houston gave Atlanta its 10th consecutive defeat.
Harden came one point shy of matching his career high and franchise record on a night he made eight 3-pointers and 20 free throws. He watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench with Houston up 127-73 at the end of three.
It was his fourth career 60-point game, tying him with Michael Jordan for third-most in NBA history, trailing only Kobe Bryant (six) and Wilt Chamberlain (32). Harden is the only active player who has scored 60 points more than once.
“We try to do what we have to do against James, which is throw a lot of bodies at him,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Try and put him under duress. He just didn’t feel us.”
Atlanta was never really in this one and was down by 20 points or more for most of the game. The flat effort came a night after the Hawks fell by one point in overtime to the Pacers in a game in which Trae Young tied career highs with 49 points and eight 3-pointers.
Young led the Hawks with 37 points and had five 3-pointers Saturday, but it wasn’t nearly enough to offset Harden’s game.
After the third quarter, Harden was sitting on the bench with a towel draped over his shoulders when he was shown on the video board with a note that said he was two points shy of setting his career high. Harden looked at the screen, read the note and pointed at it while opening his mouth wide in fake shock as if to say: “I was so close,” before smiling broadly.
76ERS 119, PACERS
116: In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid had 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Ben Simmons had three steals in the final 13.9 seconds to lead Philadelphia to a victory over Indiana.
Simmons finished with 15 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and four steals. Tobias Harris scored 22 points for Philadelphia, which won its third straight while improving to 9-0 at home.
T.J. Warren had 29 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 28 for the Pacers, who had won five straight.
BUCKS 137, HORNETS 96: In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 26 points but his doubledouble streak ended at 19 games when he grabbed nine rebounds while playing only 20 minutes as Milwaukee beat Charlotte.
Milwaukee (17-3) won its 11th straight game and matched its highest point total of the season. The Bucks held a 17-point halftime lead and extended it to 101-75 entering the fourth quarter.
KINGS 100, NUGGETS 97 (OT): In Sacramento, Calif., Harrison Barnes scored six of his seasonhigh 30 points in overtime, and Buddy Hield hit two free throws with 9.5 seconds left as Sacramento rallied to beat Denver.
Sacramento trailed by 17 at halftime and didn’t lead until Barnes made a jumper early in overtime.