DALLAS – Luka Doncic cracked the 30-point barrier Wednesday night for the fourth time this season. This time it was at the expense of his former coach.
While Doncic was shining, the Mavericks set a season high for free throws attempted with 45 and promptly used that advantage to forge to a 104-94 victory over the Phoenix Suns before an American Airlines Center sellout crowd of 19,596. With the win, the Mavs reached the midway point of the season with a 19-22 record.
Doncic was in rare form as he put on a show for his former Slovenian national team coach, Igor Kokoskov, who is in his first year as the head coach of the Suns.
“I always love playing against friends, especially my coach,” Doncic said. “I like to say something to him.
“I know all the plays because we used the same plays, so I told him they aren’t going to get the shot because I know all the plays.”
Kokoskov said he has noticed some distinct progress his protégé has made this season.
“He’s very confident,” Kokoskov said of Doncic. “First of all, he’s a good player. He’s very versatile, he’s unselfish, a guy who’s playmaking for his teammates and is also capable of scoring, (and) I think his defense is getting better.
“(Playing defense) wasn’t his strength coming into the league. But he has to understand that a lot of teams are going to go at him, so I see a huge improvement ahead for him.”
Doncic finished the game with 30 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. The rookie forward who was the third pick of last June’s NBA Draft was 8 of 14 from the field, 4 of 9 from behind the 3-point line and a disappointing 10 of 16 from the free throw line.
And he clearly outplayed the No. 1 overall pick of last summer’s draft, the Suns’ Deandre Ayton, who struggled with foul difficulties and finished with just six points and five rebounds.
In running their home record to 16-4, the Mavericks also got 17 points from Harrison Barnes; 14 from Wesley Matthews; 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks from Maxi Kleber, and 11 points and a pair of blocks from DeAndre Jordan.
Dennis Smith Jr. (tightness in his back) and Dirk Nowitzki (illness) did not play for the Mavs.
Still, as they dissect what transpired during the first half of the season, the Mavericks know they have to make some drastic improvements if they have designs on qualifying for the playoffs this season.
“We can be a lot better,” Jordan said. “I’m definitely not satisfied and happy with where we are right now – we want to be better — and that’s not a negative thing.
“That’s just real. We want to be better, we know we’re better. We dropped a couple of games this season, we’ve been in a lot of games, but we know we’re better than our record and we’ve got to start proving that, and it has to start showing.’’
The Suns (10-33) had beaten the Mavericks seven straight times until Dallas got angry enough to do something about it. The Mavs trailed 50-46 at the half, but busted out of the dressing room and outscored Phoenix, 32-19, in the third quarter to assume control of the game.
“I thought all things considered we moved the ball well and ran through passes,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We were aggressive and that’s what got us to the line so much.”
As far as that record at the halfway point of the season, Carlisle said, “I liked the way we played tonight, but I’m not really into that stuff. There are a lot of positive things with this team and I’m very optimistic about the next 41 games.”