DALLAS — Luka Doncic scored 42 points, Kyrie Irving added 40 and a pair of rookie All-Stars led the Dallas Mavericks to a 133-126 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
As Joel Embiid scored 35 points for the 76ers, who were playing a night without the All-Star center in Miami, Danzig won the NBA’s top two scorers.
Irving and Doncic became the first Dallas teammates to score at least 40 in a game.
They each scored 20 points in the first half, combined for 45 points, then scored 10 points in the first 102 seconds of the third quarter to start a 20-4 run that put Dallas ahead 91-71.
The 76ers scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter to pull within four with Embiid and James Harden watching from the bench, bringing Donczyk back into the game earlier than planned.
Doncic’s 12-assist comeback sparked Irving with a three-point play and a deep 3-pointer before Doncic took a 119-108 lead. They combined to go 13 of 21 from deep.
The franchise’s first pair of All-Star starters, who won together for the second time in six games since Irving arrived in a blockbuster trade with Brooklyn, also got others involved.
Five other Mavericks hit 3-pointers as Dallas finished with a season-high 25 3s on 48 attempts (52%).
Harden hit his first 11 shots — including five 3s and six free throws — and finished the first half with 19 points and 10 assists.
The 10-time All-Star guard was limited to eight points and three assists after the break and had two of his six turnovers in the fourth quarter — by Doncic and a steal by Irving — as Dallas rebuilt its lead.
Tips
76ers: Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points. … Jalen McDaniels picked up three fouls in 14 seconds and four in less than a minute in the third quarter. McDaniels ran through Maxi Kleber’s screen on his fourth-and-five, two seconds after he and coach Doc Rivers complained about a call when he knocked the ball out of Doncic’s hands.
Mavericks: Reggie Bullock (15 points) and Christian (10) scored in double figures. … Maxie Kleber and Tim Hardaway Jr. each went 2 of 4 from 3, with Kleber scoring nine and Hardaway eight.
next
76ers: The third game of a five-game road trip, and the third game in four nights, Saturday at Milwaukee.
Mavericks: Phoenix visited Sunday for the first meeting between Kevin Durant and Irving, both traded by Brooklyn.
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