Doncic combines with Irving to lead Mavericks past Embiid’s 76ers

Luka Doncic scored 42 points, Kyrie Irving added 40 and the new All-star pairing sparkled throughout the Dallas Mavericks’ 133-126 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

Doncic won a matchup of the NBA’S top two scorers as Joel Embiid finished with 35 points for the 76ers, who were playing a night after a win in Miami without their All-star center.

Irving and Doncic (12 assists) became the first Dallas teammates to score at least 40 in the same game.

They each had a 20-point first half while combining for 45, then combined to score 10 points in the first 102 seconds of the third quarter to start a 20-4 run for a 91-71 Dallas lead.

Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points for Philadelphia, and James Harden, who made his first 11 shots, finished with 19 points and 10 assists.

The return of Doncic, who had 12 assists, got Irving going again with a three-point play and a deep 3-pointer before Doncic hit another long one for a 119108 lead. They combined to go 13 of 21 from deep.

The franchise’s first pair of All-star starters, who won for the second time in six games together since Irving arrived in the blockbuster trade with Brooklyn, got others involved, too.

Five other Mavericks hit 3-pointers as Dallas finished with a season-high 25 3s on 48 attempts (52%).

Kyle Kuzma scored the game’s first 10 points and finished with 30, Kristaps Porzingis added 25 points, and Washington beat Toronto in the opener of a two-game set between Eastern Conference playoff contenders.

Daniel Gafford scored 18 points and Delon Wright had a season-high 11 assists for the Wizards (3032), who moved within percentage points of the ninthplace Raptors (31-33) in the East standings.

O.G. Anunoby scored 26 points and Jakob Poeltl had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who had won five of their previous six games. Pascal Siakam had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto. Scottie

Barnes and Fred Vanvleet had 14 points apiece.

The Wizards have won two straight, having rallied past another East playoff contender at Atlanta on Tuesday night, and Kuzma hopes the team can find the consistency that has eluded it thus far.

“That remains to be seen,” he said. “We come in here and we say it every day, when we have a winning streak, that the tides are turning, and they don’t.”

Jeremy Sochan had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his first career doubledouble and San Antonio defeated the Indiana Pacers while Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was out because of an illness.

Devin Vassell scored 18 points for the Spurs in his return after missing 25 games following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He shot 8 for 15 in his first game since Jan. 2.

Popovich and lead assistant Brett Brown were out with NON-COVID-19 illnesses. Popovich is expected to return for Saturday’s home game against Houston.

Spurs assistant Mitch Johnson collected his first victory in Popovich’s absence. San Antonio has won two straight after dropping a franchise-record 16 in a row.

Devonte’ Graham and Zach Collins also had 18 points each for the Spurs.

Buddy Hield had 27 points to lead the Pacers and Chris Duarte had 18.

The Spurs are a much different team than the one that last played at the AT&T Center on Feb. 3 before embarking on their annual Rodeo Road Trip.