Los Angeles (AFP) – The Dallas Mavericks, fueled by 32 points from Luka Doncic and 25 from Kyrie Irving, routed the high-flying Oklahoma City Thunder 146-111 on Saturday, notching a fourth straight victory to match their longest winning streak of the NBA season.
Daniel Gafford added 19 points and nine rebounds as he made his Mavs debut along with P.J. Washington — both acquired at the trade deadline.
Doncic found both newcomers for alley-oop dunks in the first quarter, when Dallas took a 47-30 lead. Doncic out-shone Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a battle between the league’s top two scorers. Doncic, the NBA scoring leader, added eight rebounds and nine assists and had the luxury of resting the fourth quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points with six rebounds and five assists, but the Thunder — who came into the contest just a half-game behind Minnesota for the Western Conference lead — trailed by as many as 41 and dropped a second straight contest.
Irving added eight assists, delivering the 4,000th of his career in the second quarter.
As the Thunder faltered, the Los Angeles Clippers moved into second place in the West with a tougher-than-expected 112-106 victory over the league-worst Detroit Pistons. Paul George scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Clippers battled back from a 13-point deficit early in the third quarter. Kawhi Leonard added 24 points for the Clippers, who had seized a quick 12-2 lead in front of home fans only for the Pistons to hit back. Detroit led by five going into the final period, but the Pistons couldn’t contain the Clippers down the stretch despite the departure of Los Angeles reserve point guard Norman Powell after he took an elbow to the face from Pistons center Jalen Duren as they battled for a rebound.
