Luka Doncic scored 35 points and made some history as the Dallas Mavericks held on to defeat the visiting Toronto Raptors 111-110 on Friday.
Doncic has scored 30 or more points in each of his first eight games of the season, a feat accomplished previously by one player: Wilt Chamberlain (1959-60, eight games; and 1962-63, 23 games).
The Raptors lost Pascal Siakam to a groin injury late in the third quarter, and he did not return. He had 18 points in 32 minutes.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 21 points for Dallas, which has won three in a row. Christian Wood added 13 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith had 11 points.
O.G. Anunoby scored 27 points for the Raptors, Chris Boucher added 17 points, Precious Achiuwa contributed 15 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 12 points. Scottie Barnes amassed 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double.
Dallas took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors cut the deficit to six on Achiuwa’s layup with 8:32 to play. Achiuwa’s 3-pointer trimmed the lead to three with 6:42 left, but Doncic’s 3-pointer pushed the margin back to seven points with 3:17 to go.
Achiuwa made two free throws with 35.5 seconds left, cutting the lead to three. Doncic sank one of two foul shots with 15.9 seconds to play. Anunoby’s dunk cut the lead to two. Dinwiddie made two free throws with three seconds left to seal the outcome before Anunoby hit a 3-pointer to end the game.
Dallas led 31-29 after one quarter.
The Mavericks used a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the second quarter to take a 38-31 lead. Siakam’s hook shot completed the first-half scoring with Dallas leading 62-57.
Dallas went on a 14-2 surge to open the third quarter. The gap reached 19 on Doncic’s two free throws with 6:43 remaining.
The Raptors used an 8-0 run to trim the difference to 11 with 4:24 left in the third. Wood converted a steal into a layup to bump the lead to 16 points with 52.9 seconds remaining. Barnes hit a 3-pointer to complete the first-half scoring and cut the lead to 96-81.
Toronto’s Fred VanVleet (back) missed his third straight game.
–Field Level Media