Luka Doncic’s genius inspires Mavericks to break the Rockets’ 11-game winning streak

Once again, Luka Doncic produced a near triple-double and catapulted his team into yet another victory on Sunday, as they beat Houston 125 to 107 and reached Dallas’ seventh-consecutive win. This triumph meant Houston’s 11-game winning streak has finally come to an end.

The Slovenian star dropped 47 points, won 12 rebounds and handed out 7 assists in a stellar performance that saw him produce a crazy one-handed lob that was close to the arc. Just in the first half he was on 12-of-18 shooting, going 6-of-10 from threes, and gave his team a 21-point lead.

His coach insisted that we are all witnessing the MVP. “When you talk about best player in the world, understanding the time and where we are in the schedule and this road trip, he came out and showed why he’s one of the best in the world,” Jason Kidd said.

47 points for Luka Dončić against Houston is the 10th highest scoring regular season game of his career. Luka also tied his career high with nine 3pters but an outrageous two-pointer was the unforgettable moment for Harp and me on the broadcast, and #MFFL watching pic.twitter.com/beazPH4cCk

— Mark Followill (@MFollowill) April 1, 2024

“He set the tone offensively. … He put the ball in the basket, was able to read and play the defense we saw tonight,” the Dallas coach insisted.” It’s up to him to do his job, and he did it at a high level tonight.”

His impressive two-pointer lob is definitely making his own highlight reel, especially as it came just as the clock was expiring in the third quarter. “To see him do that, I feel a lot of people got excited, but I think at the same time, that’s Luka,” Kidd expressed. “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.”

While Kyrie Irving contributed with 24 points last night, his teammates Dante Exum and P.J. Washington also had 13 and 12 points respectively. The Mavericks had 52% shooting in general and were 24-of-47 from beyond the three-point line.

“We were aggressive,” Luka said postgame. “They switched, so I think me and [Kyrie] went to work. Everybody else was open, so we were able to knock those shots down.”

Dallas and New Orleans are both tied for 5th place in the Western Conference with eight contests remaining for each team

The Mavericks have been climbing up the West’s standings ever since the All-Star break and are sitting comfortably in playoff territory. Only problem is, that they are tied for fifth with the Pelicans, who also have eight matches remaining for them before postseason.

Despite beating the Rockets by 18 points this Sunday, their rivals gave it their all with strong inputs by Jabari Smith Jr. and his 28 points, Aaron Holiday’s 16, and Jalen Green who added 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting. However, Houston saw their playoff-push stall after eleven-straight victories.

“We didn’t play our best tonight,” admitted Houston coach Ime Udoka. “Doncic was too comfortable. Not to diminish what we did, but let’s get it back going. … It’s one game. One guy played really well for them. A few others made shots, but we didn’t particularly play great.”

Dallas’ 23-7 spurt in the first quarter opened their lead and set the tone throughout the game, despite Houston closing in 47-37 with 5 minutes left in the second quarter. However, Doncic insisted with his efficient three-point play, and pushed his team farther towards the win.