Luka Doncic Puts Up 45-Point Triple-Double, Mavericks Sink Warriors, 143-133

Klay Thompson puts up a season-high in points as he gets his first win against his former team

Dec 15, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) talks to Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks returned to action after five days off to play the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Cup consolation game. Dallas lost to the OKC Thunder on Tuesday, while the Warriors lost to the Rockets on Wednesday. That set up this matchup, with the Mavs looking to avenge a 120-117 loss to the Warriors in Klay Thompson's homecoming on November 12th.

Dallas started Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II, while the Warriors rolled with Stephen Curry, Buddy Hield, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, and Kevon Looney.

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Luka Doncic scored 10 of the Mavs' first 14 points to break open a 14-7 lead early in the first quarter. It was a vintage Luka performance, hitting step-backs going both ways and even a catch-and-shoot three following a PJ Washington/Dereck Lively pick-and-roll. Then Doncic stole an inbounds pass under their own basket on defense and found Kyrie Irving in transition for three as they built an early 19-9 lead. Golden State called a timeout after Klay Thompson recovered a lost ball from Stephen Curry and kicked it ahead to Doncic for an and-one to go up 23-11.

Curry hit his first shot of the game after that and-one, which was answered by two Thompson threes from the left wing. Dallas had made their first nine shots of the game before Doncic missed a deep three from the right wing. The Mavericks would continue to double Golden State's score over the next few minutes, going up 38-19 before Draymond Green hit back-to-back triples from the corner to shrink the gap. The Warriors would get the lead down to 10 a few times by the end of the quarter, but the Mavericks would take a 46-33 lead into the second quarter following an exquisite pass by Luka Doncic to Quentin Grimes in the corner with the clock expiring, their highest scoring first quarter of the season.

Both teams stayed scorching hot from three-point range to start the second quarter, with both teams shooting better than 60% from deep to this point in the game. Buddy Hield's third three-pointer of the night brought the Dubs back within ten midway through the second quarter at 62-52, as the Warriors had hit five shots from beyond the arc to start the period.

Golden State got the lead back into single digits soon after that with a three by Lindy Waters before Kyrie Irving answered with a ridiculously hard layup through traffic. Neither team was cooling off, but Dallas was trading their twos for Golden State's threes for a few minutes, allowing the Warriors to get the lead down to seven. Dallas briefly rebuilt the lead back to double digits before Draymond Green hit his fourth three-pointer of the game to bring the lead down to five in the final second of the half. Free throws by Doncic would give the Warriors an 81-74 lead heading into halftime, with both teams likely wanting to emphasize defense in the second. Doncic had an incredible first half with 28 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds on 9/12 shooting.

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If anyone thought a break in the locker room would cool these teams off, you'd be wrong. There were 24 combined points scored in the first three minutes of the second half, with the Warriors getting the lead down to as little as three. Thanks to some help from Klay Thompson in his old home, Dallas quickly built the lead back to double-digits, forcing a Warriors timeout at 98-86 four minutes into the half.

After a few slow minutes, Luka Doncic rattled in a three at the top of the key to go up 104-90, giving him a 40-point triple-double midway through the third quarter. After he went to the bench, Dallas' elite ball movement kept finding Kyrie Irving for layups and corner threes for Quentin Grimes, allowing them to go back up by 16. Some insane shenanigans from Steph Curry helped chip away at the lead by the end of the quarter, with the Mavericks taking a 114-107 lead into the fourth quarter.

Golden State's onslaught continued, with Curry hitting an and-one early in the quarter to bring the lead back down to three, 116-113. Dallas responded with a quick 9-2 run to give them some breathing room again. A few minutes later, Doncic blocked a bad three-point attempt by Brandin Podziemski and kicked it ahead to Klay Thompson, who sank his fifth three-pointer of the night to go up 132-120.

After a short scoring drought for the Mavs (like, two minutes), Klay Thompson hit back-to-back threes to give him a season-high 25 points and extend the lead back up 138-127. Two straight threes by the Warriors brought the lead right back down to five with less than three minutes to go, though.

PJ Washington went 1/2 from the free throw line with 1:36 to go to push the lead to six, then Klay Thompson was fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:03 to go, making all three free throws. That would be all she wrote, with the Mavericks going on to win this offensive shootout, 143-133.

The shot-making in this game was simply absurd. The Warriors and Mavericks combined for 48 made three-pointers in this game, 21 by Dallas and 27 by the Warriors, the most made threes in NBA history. Golden State's 27 threes were the most ever by a team in a loss.

Dallas was led by Luka Doncic, who put up 45 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks while shooting 16/23 from the floor. Klay Thompson had a season-high in points, finishing with 29 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals on 9/14 shooting and 7/11 3PT shooting. Kyrie Irving had 21 points and eight assists, giving Dallas' Big Three a combined 95 points. Quentin Grimes (14 points), PJ Washington (13), and Daniel Gafford (10) were also in double figures.

Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors in scoring with 29 points, shooting 11/20 from the floor and 5/9 from three, all while being the primary defender on Luka Doncic. Stephen Curry had moments of magic to finish with 26 points and 10 assists on 7/13 three-point shooting. Draymond Green had a hot shooting night with 21 points on 5/9 three-point shooting, and Jonathan Kuminga wasn't far behind with 20 points.

The Mavericks will have another few days off before playing the Clippers at home on Thursday and Saturday.

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