It wasn’t an easy task but the Dallas Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons on Monday night in a close and hard-fought 111-105 victory.
If it weren’t for Luka Doncic, the results would have been very different for the Mavericks.
Doncic was solid with a 53-point showing, which was yet another 50-point game from the MVP candidate.
Luka Doncic recorded his 5th career 50-point game. In the last 50 years, Michael Jordan and LeBron James are the only other players with that many 50-point games in their first 5 seasons.
Michael Jordan 17
Luka Doncic 5
LeBron James 5 pic.twitter.com/wfz8Qj7gbP— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 31, 2023
In fact, it was his fifth-career 50-pointer.
As noted by ESPN, in the last 50 years Michael Jordan and LeBron James are the only other players with that many 50-point matches in their first five seasons.
Jordan notched 17 in that time while James, like Doncic, did it five times.
Throughout the season, Doncic has been writing his name all over the history books for Dallas.
He is certainly the team’s most important player and is easily in the running to win his first MVP trophy at the end of the season.
For the season, Doncic has been incredible with 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 8.3 assists.
He has also been averaging a field goal percentage of 50.1%,
As for his team, they have been sliding up and down the Western Conference all season long
Right now, the team is sixth in the conference, behind the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers.
You can tell that Doncic wants a whole lot more from his team.
He has even demanded that the front office make some sort of impressive deal before the upcoming trade deadline.
There have been rumblings of reinforcements coming to Dallas so the second half of the season could be explosive for the team.
It’s wonderful to see Doncic producing so many points but it would be even more wonderful if his team was in a better position.
NEXT: Luka Doncic Did Everything For The Mavericks Again
