Luka Doncic Making Extraordinary Look Normal As Mavs Keep Rolling

Luka Doncic scored 47 points, on nine three-point makes (tied career-high), grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out seven assists, as the Mavs defeated the Rockets 125-107 Sunday night.

Notably, both Dallas and Houston are two of the hottest teams in the league, as this is now the Mavericks’ seventh win a row, so correspondingly this means the Rockets’ 11-game win streak now comes to an end.

After winning 10 out of their last 11 games, the Mavs (45-29 record), have jumped up to the fifth seed in the Western conference standings.

While the Rockets (38-36 record) finished the month of March with a 13-2 record and are currently holding on to the 11th seed in the West, 2.0 games back behind the Warriors for a play-in spot.

Jalen Green, who prior to tip-off was averaging 28.8 points per game in the month of March, only scored 12 points, but showcased a highlight dunk at the 5:44 minute mark in the second quarter. That is to say, Luka may have had the highlight of the night, early in the third quarter, as he made an underhand lob from inside the 3-point line right when the shot clock expired.

LUKA UNDERHAND SHOT FROM THE 3-POINT LINE

How. 😱 pic.twitter.com/zTa8KaKytW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 1, 2024

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said that’s nothing out of the ordinary considering who Luka is, “To see him do that, I feel a lot of people got excited, but I think at the same time, that’s Luka,” Kidd stated. “He’s always able to make tough shots. He’s Picasso. Give him the paintbrush, he’s going to do something special. That shot was pretty special.”

Luka’s stellar play has resulted in wins, as to note, the Mavericks’ only loss in the last 12 games came when he did not play vs. the Thunder, March 14.

By all means, the five-time all-star continues to increase his chances for MVP, as he has averaged a triple-double for the month of March with 32.5 points (47% FG; 38.1% 3-PT), 10.1 rebounds, and 10.1 assists per game. Not to mention, the five-year player started off the month with a NBA record of six straight 30+ point triple-double games, which passed Russell Westbrook (5) for most all time. 

For the Rockets, Green is also a viable Player of the Month candidate, as he has averaged 27.7 points (49.2% FG; 40.8% 3-PT), 6.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in March, which is a big bump up from his season average of 19.9 points per game.

Ever since the Rockets lost their key big man Alperen Sengun (21.1 ppg, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists), who went down with grade 3 right ankle sprain vs. the Kings on March 10, Green has stepped up in a big way. To point out, coming into the game against the Mavericks, Green had led the Rockets to winning nine games in a row, while averaging 31.8 ppg without Sengun. 

The Mavericks and Rockets will face off again on April 7 in Dallas, and this game will seemingly have implications for the tight playoff seeding in the West. In just one month, the Rockets have gone from a draft lottery team to actually having a real chance to make the playoffs.

With this in mind, they have eight games left on the schedule, and the two teams on Houston’s radar are the 10th-seeded Warriors (40-34) and ninth-seeded Lakers (42-33); as a reminder, after the regular season ends, the 7-10 seeded teams will take part in a play-in tournament to decide which two teams will make it into the playoffs.