Dallas Basketball

Power Rankings: Luka Doncic's Christmas Day Dominance Helps Mavs Jump Two Spots

Luka Doncic's historic Christmas Day performance against the Phoenix Suns boosts Dallas up the NBA Power Rankings.

Michael Mulford

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With 2024 right around the corner, the Dallas Mavericks head into the final week of the year owning an 18-12 record through the first 30 games this season.

This week, the Mavs held a record of 2-2, which started with back-to-back losses against the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets but ended with two bounce-back wins once Luka Doncic returned to the lineup against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. But, the big story of this past week was Dallas' storybook win over the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day.

The Mavs are fresh off spoiling Christmas for all of Phoenix as Doncic put on a historic show, finishing with 50 points, six rebounds, 13 assists, four steals, and three blocks on 15-of-25 shooting from the floor, 8-of-16 from downtown, and hitting all 12 free throw attempts while scoring his 10,000 career point in Dallas' 128-114 win.

In this week's edition of CBS Sports' NBA Power Rankings, the Mavs moved up two spots from No. 11 to No. 9 following Christmas Day's victory.

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Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

CBS Sports' analysis: “The Mavs started off the week with losses to the Clippers and Rockets, but bounced back with wins over the Spurs and Suns. Luka Doncic put on a show on Christmas Day, going for 50 points and 15 assists despite constant defensive attention against Phoenix. He averaged 39 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in the three games he played this week on 41% 3-point shooting. Special.”

In a game against Suns' stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, Doncic was clearly the best player on the court and it wasn't even remotely close. Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on a collective 10-of-24 shooting and nine turnovers in the loss while Doncic put an unreal MVP-like stamp on this game.

Luka Doncic Drops 50 Points & 15 Assists, Leads Mavs' Christmas Day Win vs. Suns

Dallas also benefited from rookie center Dereck Lively II returning to the lineup on Christmas Day, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds after missing the previous four games due to a left ankle sprain.

With Lively healthy and the return of Kyrie Irving looming along with the rise of Dante Exum and Derrick Jones Jr. as high quality role players, the Mavs are set up for success and the potential to rise up the NBA's power rankings with Doncic playing like the best player on the planet.

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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