Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving make Mavericks history with 40-point nights in win over 76ers
Kyrie #Kyrie
This is what the Dallas Mavericks had in mind.
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic became the first Mavs teammates to each score at least 40 points in the same game as they powered Dallas to a 133-126 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, finished with a game-high 42 points on 13-of-22 shooting (7-of-13 from 3). Irving, acquired by Dallas from Brooklyn ahead of the trade deadline, finished with 40 points on an efficient 15-for-22 night (he went 6-for-8 from 3). They became the first teammates in NBA history to each score 40 while hitting at least six 3-pointers apiece.
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“Luka was ready for the party,” Irving said. “I was ready for the party tonight. It was one of those games where we had some special performances. I’m just grateful that the work translated because it could have gone either way.”
Doncic added a team-high 12 assists while Irving came in behind him with six. As a team, the Mavericks hit a season-high 25 3-pointers (25-for-48, 52.1%).
“Everybody they passed to made it,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “You have nights like that, and they had a night like that tonight.”
Thursday’s win was just the second victory in six games for the Mavericks (33-31) with both Irving and Doncic in the lineup. But certainly if they do this every night, they’re going to be hard to stop.
“They were tough with one wizard with the basketball in Luka,” Sixers forward Tobias Harris said. “Now they’ve got two of them out there. Those are tough matchups. They just picked us apart tonight.”
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, finished with 35 points.
Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving make Mavericks history with 40-point nights in win over 76ers