Luka Doncic’s 50 makes him fastest player since Michael Jordan to reach 10,000 points

The Mavericks beat the Suns 128-114 in Phoenix on Christmas Day, as Luka Doncic put on a special performance with a season-high 50 points and 15 assists, along with six rebounds, four steals, and three blocks.

Not only this but also seven minutes into the first quarter, on a deep three, Luka scored his 10,000th career point, tying Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo in becoming the seventh fastest player in NBA history to reach this milestone. That is to say, the 24-year-old only needed 358 games to join the 10k points club. To note, the other six players to reach this mark in fewer games include Wilt Chamberlain (236 games), Michael Jordan (303), Elgin Baylor (315), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (319), Oscar Robertson (334), and George Gervin (355).

In addition to Luka being the fastest player to reach this milestone since MJ, he also became the sixth-youngest player to reach 10,000 points, only behind: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Tracy McGrady. 

Mavericks’ head coach Jason Kidd elaborated on the storybook performance, “He’s one of the best in the world,” Kidd stated. “As I’ve always said, we can’t take him for granted. When he’s feeling it, you’re just trying to get him the ball as much as possible.”

Certainly, with Luka being the epitome of a legendary playmaking-shot creator, no matter how teams game plan against him, most of the time there is simply no answer to stopping the Slovenian “Wonderboy.” Coming into the game there was no doubt Luka, who has averaged 37 points in December, would be the center of focus for the Suns’ defense, as he was often double-teamed, which led him to finding open teammates and dishing out 15 dimes. 

“We weren’t stopping them in the fourth, so we were taking the ball out of the basket,” Suns’ head coach Frank Vogel said. “Double teaming Luka, they were hurting us and when we weren’t doubling, he was hurting us as well and I think that took us out of our rhythm offensively some.”

There was no slowing Luka down on Christmas, for when he wasn’t giving out assists, he was dropping buckets in rhythm, shooting 15-of-25 from the field, 12-of-12 from the free throw line, and 8-of-16 from three-point range. 

Notably, the Suns’ Grayson Allen also made eight three-pointers, which means he and Luka tied an NBA record for most 3’s made on Christmas Day, as the only other player to do so is Patty Mills (2021). Also, Luka is the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 50 points in a game on Christmas, with the record being held by Bernard King, who scored 60 in 1984. To mention, Wilt scored 59 points in 1961 and Rick Barry also had 50 points in 1966. 

Luka is currently averaging a career-high 33.5 points per game, and now ties Joel Embiid for most 40+ games in the NBA this season with six, as the Mavs are now 6-0 in games when he scores 40 or more points. To point out, Luka has also averaged a career-high 9.1 assists this season, that is to say, the sixth-year player seems to be in the spirit of giving on and off the court, as Luka surprised the whole team with Christmas gifts after the Mavs’ 144-119 win vs. the Spurs Saturday night. Particularly every Mavericks’ player and staff member was gifted, by Doncic, a Mercedes-EQ electric bicycle worth $3,000. 

And after the Christmas day win vs. the Suns, Luka spoke about how much he values his teammates, concerning the adversity they have had to overcome so far this season, “I’m feeling good. We missed Lively for five games, we missed Kai [Irving] I don’t know how many games, so we are far away from our potential. But next man up mentality,” Doncic smiled. “I can’t wait until Kai gets back.” 

The Mavericks have maintained a 5-4 record since missing their star guard Kyrie Irving (heel), who has been out during the previous nine games, and the team is currently holding onto the fifth seed in the Western Conference standings with an 18-12 record. 

“It’s a great road win, they [the Suns] have an amazing team, so I’m really proud of this team,” Doncic stated. The Mavs handing the Suns a loss Monday night means Phoenix has lost nine out of their last twelve games, and have now fallen below .500 with a 14-15 record. 

That is, the Suns’ struggles have mostly been attributed to not having all their players on the court together, due to injury. Nevertheless, on a night where Devin Booker and Kevin Durant shot only a combined 25 shots, the Suns’ role players have shown the ability to step up when needed. Being that center Jusuf Nurkic (personal) was out for the Christmas matchup, this allowed Chimezie Metu to play a season-high 34 minutes, and he took full advantage of the opportunity, scoring a career-high 23 points off the bench, while also recording a career-high 19 rebounds.

On the negative side, considering the Suns’ injury woes, Phoenix’s big three of Durant, Booker, and Bradley Beal have only been on the court together for 24 minutes this season, and that has even caused recent frustration from Durant per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. 

“Start with Kevin Durant. You talk to people in Phoenix and around that organization, you know, they can feel the frustration with Durant,” Wojnarowski stated on televised NBA Countdown. “Part of that certainly is the missed games for Brad Beal. This team was built around those three stars.”

With attention to All-Star guard Beal, who has been dealing with a back strain injury all year, he just can not seem to shake the injury bug. After all, just after his third appearance since returning from a month of not playing, he recently suffered an ankle sprain five minutes into the game vs. the Knicks on December 15. The first-year Suns’ player continues to rehab his ankle and will be re-evaluated at the start of the new year. In the hope that Beal can get healthy soon, the Suns should be at full strength for their rematch vs. the Mavs on January 24, which will be broadcast on ESPN. 

Luka and the Mavs’ next matchup on the schedule will come Wednesday night when they host the Cavs (17-13) in Dallas at 8:30 ET, while the Suns, without Beal, will take on the Rockets (15-12; 12-2 at home) in Houston at 8:00 ET.