Both players surpassed 40 points and led the Mavs to a 133-126 victory over Philadelphia
Dallas’ record when both played together was only 1-4
After the recent bad results and the first doubts about their chemistry on the track, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving vindicated themselves this Thursday in the important victory of the dallas mavericks before the Philadelphia 76ers (133-126). Tuesday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, after Irving missed a three-pointer at the buzzer (122-124), left the Mavericks with many questions and a poor 3-5 record since the point guard landed in Dallas. And worse still was the record with Doncic and Irving playing together: just a dismal 1-4.
With obvious urgency and many things to prove, the figures of the Mavericks faced the duel against the Sixers at full speed and sealed the local victory with two individual exhibitions: Doncic shone with 42 points (13 of 22 on shots, 7 of 13 on three-pointers) and 12 assists and Irving excelled with 40 points (15 of 22 shooting, 6 of 8 three-pointers) and 6 assists. Dallas, who made 25 of 48 three-pointers, had a hit in the third period with a phenomenal 39-24 run, but suffered a 0-15 run at the start of the fourth period and had to sweat until the end so it wouldn’t happen again. the collapse on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, when he lost after leading by 27 points.
Irving lived with Doncic his best minutes so far in Dallas (33-31) the day he was reunited with another of the vertices of the failed Brooklyn Nets triangle: a James Harden who added 27 points and 13 assists. Joel Embiid contributed 35 points and 8 rebounds and Tyrese Maxey had 29 points (17 in the fourth quarter) in a Sixers (40-22) going through a slump with three losses in four games.
star duel
Doncic and Irving on the one hand and Embiid and Harden on the other uncorked the night without reserving ammunition. In Dallas, his two references signed 18 of his team’s first 20 points while Embiid managed to score against the Sixers even though rivals piled up to try to stop him. With no intention of defending on either side, Doncic added his second personal with a foul in attack that also led Jason Kidd to waste his ‘challenge’ in the first quarter. The Dallas coach risked keeping the Slovenian and he responded with a three-pointer with a step back to end his exceptional first quarter with 17 points. The replica in Philadelphia was given by Harden, with 16 points and 7 assists (including an additional three pointer at the end) to close a first quarter full of fireworks (38-37).
The script did not change in the second chapter, although some names from the bench joined the offensive festival such as Christian Wood in the locals and De’Anthony Melton in the visitors. In any case, the leading role continued to correspond to the figures, who brought the game to half-time practically in a draw after a great dunk against Embiid’s counterattack assisted by Harden (71-67). With the Sixers shooting 62% from the field and the Mavericks 12 of 25 from 3-pointers, the statistics were especially bulky in the first half: Doncic with 25 points, Irving with 20, Harden with 19 points and 10 assists and Embiid with 17.
Rather than press on defense, Dallas approached the restart by doubling down on getting the most out of its attack, and it worked as Philadelphia’s offense ran out of steam. Thus, the Mavericks embroidered a magnificent start to the third period with a 20-4 run until reaching an unexpected +20 in less than four minutes. Doncic and Irving were still at an excellent level but they were joined by secondary players such as Reggie Bullock (3 of 3 in triples) or Maxi Kleber (9 points). Embiid tried to stop the bleeding, but the superb 9 of 14 three-pointers put Dallas, which went on to win by 25 points, with everything up their all before the fourth quarter (110-91).
But when it seemed that they only had to put the icing on the triumph, the Mavericks disappeared from the game. A huge 0-15 run in two minutes, with Maxey shaking the Sixers shaker and Doncic on the bench, paralyzed some Mavericks between chills. Doncic and Irving responded with several triples to calm the waters but, even so, another disconnection in the last minutes (0-11) prevented Mavericks from relaxing as brilliant as they were inconsistent.