On Dec. 27, Luka Dončić scored a career-high 60 points, pulled down 21 rebounds, and dished out 11 assists in a Dallas Mavericks win over the New York Knicks. He became the first player in NBA history to put together a 60-20-10 game, and it was the highest-scoring performance in Mavericks franchise history.
That game also featured five extra minutes of overtime, though. And on Monday night, Dončić scored the most points in Mavericks history among games that finished in regulation.
Dončić scored 53 points in the Mavericks’ 109-105 victory over the Detroit Pistons. That’s tied (with Dirk Nowitzki, who had an overtime game) for the second-highest point total in Mavericks history.
It’s already the fourth game that Dončić has scored 50-plus points this season.
He reached the 53 points with great efficiency, making 17-of-24 field-goal attempts and 14-of-18 attempts from the charity stripe. He also had eight rebounds and five assists. He did all of this in 36 minutes played (the 60-point performance featured 47 minutes played).
Dončić almost outscored Detroit in the first quarter, going off for 24 points.
Luka with 24 points through 1 quarter.
pic.twitter.com/yoHNZfUxLJ — The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 31, 2023
He also got into it with the Pistons’ coaching staff.
Luka Doncic exchanging words with one of the Pistons' assistant coaches
pic.twitter.com/RvvFEMiEHM — 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) January 31, 2023
After the game, he said, “If they’re going to chirp, I’m going to chirp back.”
Here’s a peek at how the basketball world is reacting to Dončić’s ridiculous performance: