Rookie Luka Doncic’s triple-double leads Mavericks over Hornets
Luke Doncic can’t really be a rookie, can he?
The Dallas forward assembled a triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in pushing the Mavericks to a 99-93 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center. Doncic’s performance was enough to overcome a third-straight game of 30 or more points from Hornets All-Star guard Kemba Walker.
Walker finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, but his pass out of the corner with 47 seconds left went out of bounds, signaling the last realistic hope for a Hornets team that fell to 26-28.
The Mavericks (25-28) swept the season series, winning in Charlotte earlier this season.
Three who mattered
Walker: In the first half, he was pretty much the Hornets’ whole offense.
Doncic: Rookies assembling triple-doubles aren’t common events.
Harrison Barnes: Reportedly headed to Sacramento before Thursday’s trade deadline, the Dallas starting guard and former Tar Heels star was put on the bench to protect Mavs’ deal in the third quarter.
Observations
▪ Tony Parker (back strain) missed his eighth game this season and the Hornets entered Wednesday 0-7 without him. The only qualifier on that was most of those games were versus opponents who were favored regardless. The significant exception was the loss in Atlanta in November.
▪ Parker was the only Hornets player held out Wednesday. The Hornets didn’t sit out anyone to protect bodies before Thursday’s trade deadline; they’ve been in talks with the Memphis Grizzlies about possibly acquiring center Marc Gasol, who didn’t travel with the Grizzlies to Oklahoma City for their next game.
▪ The Clippers’ 75 percent shooting from 3-point range (18-of-24) in Tuesday’s comeback victory over the Hornets tied for second-highest in NBA history for teams with 20 or more attempts in a game.
▪ Parker sitting out meant Hornets rookie Devonte Graham filled in as backup point guard.
▪ The Mavericks shook up their roster recently with the trade with New York for injured star Kristaps Porzingis. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said pre-game he’d be winging it for a while with Dallas’ rotations, fitting in several new players.
Worth mentioning
▪ NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was in Dallas, and attended Wednesday’s game. Obviously, he’ll be in Charlotte next week for All-Star Weekend.
▪ The Hornets brought back Dwayne Bacon Wednesday from a three-game assignment with the G-League Greensboro Swarm.
▪ Hornets center Cody Zeller, in his second game back from a fractured right hand, continued to play as a reserve Wednesday.
They said it
“I think people were a little skeptical how it would translate to the NBA, and obviously it has. He sees the game at an extremely high level. He looks like he’s been in the league four or five years already” – Hornets coach James Borrego on Doncic.
“We’ve all been trying to find that next Dirk, and there are a number of them now in the NBA.” – Borrego how Nowitzki’s ability to play as a big man with perimeter skills changed NBA culture.
“There are a lot of potential distractions in the NBA. You can blow all that out by going out and competing.” –Carlisle, when asked if it’s hard to keep players focused with the trade deadline looming Thursday.
Report card
C OFFENSE: They found some scoring balance in the second half.
C- DEFENSE: The 32 first-half points the Mavericks scored in the lane were really excessive.
C COACHING: Looked like some carryover in Hornets’ performance from blowing a big lead Tuesday to the Clippers.
MAVERICKS 99, HORNETS 93
Charlotte | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | F | Pt |
Batum | 35:16 | 6-13 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
Williams | 26:04 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
Biyombo | 23:06 | 0-1 | 2-4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Lamb | 28:33 | 6-16 | 3-4 | 5 | 2 | 15 |
Walker | 36:33 | 10-22 | 6-6 | 11 | 2 | 30 |
Zeller | 24:41 | 4-6 | 1-2 | 13 | 3 | 9 |
Bridges | 21:09 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Monk | 19:43 | 3-9 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
Kidd-Gilchrist | 13:28 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Graham | 11:27 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
Totals | 240:00 | 36-89 | 12-17 | 47 | 17 | 93 |
Percentages: FG .404, FT .706. 3-Point Goals: 9-37, .243 (Walker 4-11, Batum 2-9, Graham 1-3, Monk 1-5, Williams 1-5, Bridges 0-1, Lamb 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14 (14 PTS). Blocked Shots: 9 (Biyombo 3, Batum 2, Bridges, Kidd-Gilchrist, Lamb, Monk). Turnovers: 14 (Walker 4, Batum 2, Biyombo 2, Graham 2, Kidd-Gilchrist, Lamb, Monk, Zeller). Steals: 9 (Batum 2, Bridges 2, Walker 2, Graham, Williams, Zeller).
Dallas | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | F | Pt |
Barnes | 25:50 | 4-13 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
Finney-Smith | 33:10 | 7-11 | 0-0 | 10 | 0 | 15 |
Kleber | 28:40 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 7 | 3 | 11 |
Brunson | 30:24 | 4-11 | 0-3 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
Doncic | 34:40 | 5-20 | 7-9 | 10 | 1 | 19 |
Powell | 26:57 | 4-7 | 3-3 | 12 | 1 | 11 |
Hardaway Jr. | 26:27 | 5-16 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
Harris | 14:50 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Nowitzki | 14:33 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
Burke | 4:29 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240:00 | 38-94 | 12-17 | 57 | 12 | 99 |
Percentages: FG .404, FT .706. 3-Point Goals: 11-36, .306 (Nowitzki 2-4, Barnes 2-6, Hardaway Jr. 2-9, Doncic 2-10, Kleber 1-1, Finney-Smith 1-2, Harris 1-2, Brunson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 13 (10 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Powell 2, Hardaway Jr., Harris, Nowitzki). Turnovers: 13 (Doncic 3, Harris 3, Kleber 2, Barnes, Brunson, Burke, Finney-Smith, Hardaway Jr.). Steals: 8 (Brunson 2, Powell 2, Doncic, Finney-Smith, Hardaway Jr., Kleber).
Charlotte | 20 | 26 | 25 | 22 | — | 93 |
Dallas | 27 | 25 | 22 | 25 | — | 99 |
Att.—19,606 (19,200). T—2:16.
Officials—Mike Callahan, Kevin Cutler, Courtney Kirkland
Rick Bonnell: 704-358-5129, @rick_bonnell
This story was originally published February 6, 2019 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Rookie Luka Doncic’s triple-double leads Mavericks over Hornets."
