The Rockets took a crack at slowing down Luka Doncic, Mavs

rockets willing to take crack to slow Luka Doncic, Mavs

With their destruction at the hands of Luka Doncic still fresh in their collective minds, the Rockets will face the Mavericks guard once more and must do so after another of his eviscerations.

Doncic produced the first triple-double of 60 points and 20 rebounds N.B.A history on Tuesday with 60 points, 21 boards and 10 assists in the Mavericks’ 126-121 overtime win over the New York Knicks. It marked the Mavericks’ fourth straight win, and Doncic is averaging 41.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists during a run Dallas looks to extend against visiting Houston on Thursday.

Doncic recorded his second career 50-point game in Houston on Friday, totaling 50 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in a 112-106 win that evened the season series at one game apiece . The teams will cap the series in Houston on Jan. 2 with their third meeting in 11 days.

Doncic joined Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with 50-point, 20-rebound triple-doubles. Philadelphia point guard James Harden is the only other player with a triple-double of 60 points. He accomplished the feat with the Rockets on January 30, 2018.

“The history of the game is written by the players and it was written again (Tuesday) for one player, Luka, doing something that’s never been done before,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic, which established the franchise single. -Score of the game. “There have been some great players before him. Elgin Baylor, Wilt, was in that class and then he split off and made his own class, which is pretty cool.”

The recent flurry does not bode well for the Rockets, against whom Doncic is averaging 28.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 12 career games. Doncic did not play when the Rockets defeated the Mavericks 101-92 in Dallas on Nov. 16.

The Rockets had their hands full with the Boston Celtics tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on Tuesday in a 126-102 road loss. Tatum scored 38 points, eight rebounds and four assists; Brown had 39 points and three steals to send Houston to its sixth loss in seven games.

Second only to 76ers center Joel Embiid in scoring at 33.6 points per game, Doncic has clearly demonstrated his ability to dismantle any defense. But the Rockets’ season-long defensive woes — Houston entered Wednesday 28th in defensive rating with 115.4 points allowed per 100 possessions — certainly grease the skids for Doncic to continue his recent run of excellence.

For Houston, making the most of their day off on Wednesday would go a long way toward having more success against Doncic this time around. The Rockets’ loss in Boston was the second game of a back-to-back and followed an impressive offensive effort in a win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

“We’ve got Luka next game again,” Rockets forward KJ Martin said. “I feel like we played them three days ago. So rest (Wednesday) and be ready to play another good team.”

–Media at the field level