Luka Dončić and Mavs dismantle superstar James Harden
The Dallas Mavericks offer the spectators at their home American Airlines Center an unparalleled offensive spectacle. Led by Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, they dismantle the L.A. Clippers, for whom superstar James Harden is far from being the decisive factor. Harden has one request.
Without the injured Maxi Kleber, the Dallas Mavericks won in an offensive spectacle against the Los Angeles Clippers in the North American professional basketball league NBA and continued their strong start to the season thanks in particular to top star Luka Dončić. The Slovenian scored 44 points in the 144:126 victory on home court and so was the decisive man in the seventh win in the ninth game of the season.
Whereas Kleber had to miss out due to an injury to his toe, Dončić had a great day, hitting an outstanding 17 out of 21 shots from the floor. Kyrie Irving also scored 27 points for the Mavericks, who went on a 33:4 run in the first half. "I can only repeat it: It's not just about the two of them," said Dončić about his partnership with the former Brooklyn Nets point guard: "We also get down sometimes. Everyone contributes something. It's not just us, everyone helps us."
For the Clippers, however, it was their third defeat in their third game since the newly signed former MVP James Harden joined the team. "It felt good in the first quarter, but it went downhill from there," said Harden about his game and asked for time: "I wasn't at training camp, I didn't have any preparation. Everything is still going extremely fast for me. I need maybe ten games and then I can see where I am."
Harden's former team continue to dominate
With 7:2 wins, the Mavericks are the second-best team in the Western Conference behind the champions Denver Nuggets (8:1). Friday's games were part of the new NBA In-Season Tournament. In the cup competition, which is integrated into the regular season and runs until December 9, the Mavs celebrated their first win in their second game.
The best team in the NBA East remains Harden's former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, who are on a 7-1 winning run after a 114-106 win at the Detroit Pistons. The Boston Celtics (6:2) also celebrated a commanding 121:107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
In a thrilling duel between two top West teams that have struggled so far, the Los Angeles Lakers celebrated their first away win thanks to 32 points from LeBron James with 122:119 at the Phoenix Suns, which Kevin Durant was also unable to prevent with 38 points. Both teams have a negative record with 4:5 wins each - which is mainly due to major injury worries for Phoenix.
The Dallas Mavericks, led by Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, are currently second-best in the Western Conference of the NBA, boasting a 7-2 win record. On a different note, James Harden, now with the L.A. Clippers, mentioned his need for time to adjust, noting that he wasn't able to attend training camp and is still acclimating to the fast-paced NBA games.
Source: www.ntv.de
