The Slovenian Luka Doncic sealed his seventh consecutive triple double in the NBA this Monday and, with 27 points, twelve rebounds and fourteen assists, he led the comfortable victory of the Dallas Mavericks in the field of the Chicago Bulls (127-92), the third consecutive for Jason Kidd’s men.
A few hours after scoring 39 points, ten rebounds and ten assists in the victory at the Pistons’ field, Doncic left the Bulls’ court, who were never in the game and were already 28 points behind after a Texan recital in the first period (44-16).
The Slovenian hit six triples and surpassed a Mavericks legend like Jason Terry to place second on the list of the Texans’ top three-point scorers (1,143), only behind German Dirk Nowitzki (1,982).
Doncic, who was already close to the triple double at halftime, when he had fifteen points, eight rebounds and nine assists, and completed it in two and a half quarters, led the Texans along with an excellent Derek Lively, who contributed 22 points and seven rebounds with eleven of 22 in triples.
The Mavericks are eighth in the West (37-28), while the Bulls, who returned to the United Center after winning three games out of four on their road trip, are ninth in the East (31-34). Both franchises would compete in the play-in to access the playoffs if they finished between tenth and seventh position.
Doncic won the duel against DeRozan hours after both players were chosen respectively as the best players in the West and the East.
DeRozan did not exceed thirteen points, like the Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic, on a night in which the Turkish Onuralp Bitim was the Bulls’ top scorer with 17 points.
That it would be a great night for Doncic was understood very quickly at the United Center. Doncic led with fifteen points, six rebounds and seven assists a first quarter in which the Mavericks took a 28-point lead (44-16).
The Slovenian scored at will and distributed the game with great lucidity for, among others, Derek Lively who scored his first five shots against the Texans. Doncic had a notable 28 plus minutes and, despite Irving not scoring points, the Mavs closed the quarter with the biggest lead of the season, after a three-pointer at the buzzer by Josh Green.
Doncic rested until midway through the second period and the Bulls closed the gap to 20 points, driven by eleven points from Nikola Vucevic, but the 62-42 halftime score reflected the superiority of the Mavs against local teams that did not exceed 34.8% shooting. field. The Slovenian star did not score, but added two rebounds and two assists to go into halftime already close to the triple double with fifteen points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
There was no competition in the second half, with Doncic, despite the double marking, knew how to read the game brilliantly. He attracted the Bulls’ defensive pressure and moved the ball so that his teammates, such as Derrick Jones and Kyrie Irving, could do damage from the arc and increase the margin to 27 points at 76-49.
The Bulls fell behind and the Mavs gave them another 36-24 run in the third period, with nine points from Doncic and eight from Irving and Gafford for a resounding 98-64 that already sealed the victory.
With 24 points, twelve rebounds and fourteen rebounds with six minutes remaining, Kidd replaced Doncic with the Mavericks calmly in charge of operations.
The Bulls also took their starters off the court, already focusing on the next commitments, which include a visit to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday and a home duel against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
The Mavericks are now preparing for three highly demanding games, against the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets.
