Doncic, Irving combine to lead Mavs past 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 became the first Dallas teammates to score at least 40 points 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.
The 76ers scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter to get within four with Embiid and James Harden watching from the bench, which brought Doncic back in the game earlier than planned.
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 119-108 lead. They combined to go 13 of 21 from deep.
Five other Mavericks hit 3-pointers as Dallas finished with a season-high 25 3-pointers on 48 attempts (52%).
WIZARDS 119, RAPTORS 108 » Kyle Kuzma scored the game’s first 10 points and finished with 30, and Kristaps Porzingis added 25 points as Washington beat Toronto.
SPURS 110, PACERS 99 » Jeremy Sochan had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double and San Antonio defeated Indiana while Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sat out because of an illness.
CURRY COULD RETURN SUNDAY VS. LAKERS » Stephen Curry could be cleared to play as soon as the Warriors’ game on Sunday against the Lakers, coach Steve Kerr said. Curry is “getting close” to receiving a thumbs up from the team’s medical staff after he went through another scrimmage at Chase Center on Thursday morning.
Curry has missed the Warriors’ past 10 games, including Thursday’s matchup against the Clippers, and he won’t play today against the New Orleans Pelicans, either.
The Warriors are 12-12 without Curry this season and 5-4 over the nine games Curry has missed since he suffered partial tears to his superior tibia/fibular ligaments and a membrane. Curry also missed 11 games earlier this season with a shoulder injury.
THUNDER’S WILLIAMS OUT FOR SEASON » The Oklahoma City Thunder expect forward Kenrich Williams to miss the rest of the season with an injury to his left wrist. The team said Williams will need surgery. He was hurt on Tuesday in a game against the Sacramento Kings.
After days of medical evaluation and nail-biting anticipation, the Lakers have learned they’ll likely spend the next three weeks scrapping to survive a crowded Western Conference playoff race without LeBron James.
When James returns — and if he returns — might hinge on how well the Lakers (30-33) can play without him during a defining stretch of the regular season.
On Thursday morning, the team officially acknowledged that James has a tendon injury in his right foot, which was exacerbated when he landed awkwardly in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. James watched the Lakers’ next game from the sideline in Memphis while wearing a walking boot up to his knee, then flew back to L.A. early for further evaluation.
The meager success the Lakers have carved out this year can be attributed, in large part, to James, who has led the Lakers in scoring (29.5 ppg) and play-making (6.9 apg) at 38 years old. But the excitement of surrounding James and fellow superstar Anthony Davis with younger, more well-fitting role players at the trade deadline has quickly diminished to grim determination to keep the team competitive enough for James to come back in time for a potential