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By the numbers: Luka Doncic erupts for career-high 51 points vs. Clippers

Nick Metallinos

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By the numbers: Luka Doncic erupts for career-high 51 points vs. Clippers image

The Dallas Mavericks entered Thursday night's game against the Clippers looking to extend their three-game winning streak. 

The Mavs have been one of the hottest teams in the league since the turn of the New Year, and are currently 11-4 in their last 15 games, following the 112-105 win over the Clippers. 

Over that stretch, their All-Star point guard Luka Doncic has also enjoyed one of his best stretches of the season as well,  averaging almost a triple-double over that span. The Slovenian has put up numbers of 30.3 points (48.0 percent from the field), 9.8 rebounds and 9.5 assists in those 15 games. 

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It's no surprise that the Mavs will only go so far as Doncic will be able to carry them - more so now that Kristaps Porzingis has been traded away - and he did not disappoint against the Clippers. 

Incidentally, no other player on the team had more than 12 points and only three others reached double figures.

After finishing with 51 points, nine rebounds and six assists, here's a look at all of the major numbers behind Doncic's impressive showing. 

51/9/6: Franchise-record 

When the final buzzer had gone Doncic recorded his first career 50-point game, and the first game in Mavericks' history where a player had finished with at least 50 points, five rebounds and five assists. 

Doncic became just the fourth Maverick to ever score 50 points in a game, joining icon Dirk Nowitzki - who did it three times - Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson.

Nowitzki owns the franchise record for points in a game (53). 

The last 50-point game in Mavs history game all the way back in 2006 when Nowitzki dropped 50 on the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals.

32/8/8: Doncic's career average vs. Clippers

Seven of Doncic's top ten scoring games are against the Clippers, and he's scored 42 points and above in each one. 

Including playoffs, Doncic has career averages of 32.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game.  

It's fair to say Luka likes playing against the Clippers.

32: Highest scoring half this season 

Doncic is now the only Maverick with three-or-more halves recording 30 plus points since 1996-97, passing Michael Finley (2) and Dirk Nowitzki (2).

After the game, he spoke about his career game. 

"I felt great. I felt energy," he said. "The shots were hitting, they were switching, they didn't want me to create, I guess... I'm tired as hell right now, so I'm gonna get some recovery."

28: First quarter explosion 

Doncic recorded the highest-scoring quarter in the NBA this season with 28 points in the first quarter., which was also the highest-scoring quarter of the 22-year-old’s career, regular season or playoffs

After the first 12 minutes, he had as many points as the Clippers and had been responsible for 30 of the team's 36 points.

7: Luka Doncic's 3-pointers

Doncic knocked down 7-of-9 three-pointers in the first quarter and finished the game 7-of-14 from long range. After the seventh three went in, the home crowd rose to give Doncic an ovation. 

He broke the team’s franchise record with seven 3-pointers in the first quarter but fell just shy of matching his career-high eight 3-pointers made.

Nick Metallinos

Nick Metallinos Photo

Nick has been working exclusively within the NBA world for over a decade. He hosted 46 episodes of Ball or Nothin' - a show screened on ESPN highlighting the social media aspects of the NBA. Nick has covered 3 NBA Finals, 5 NBA All-Star weekends, 8 NBA drafts, 5 Jordan Brand Classics plus dozens of playoff games and hundreds of regular season games. 
Nick spends his spare time trying to decide which sneakers best match his outfit.