Luka Doncic's career-night helps Mavericks survive Stephen Curry's 57-point explosion in Dallas

Yash Matange

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Luka Doncic's career-night helps Mavericks survive Stephen Curry's 57-point explosion in Dallas image

The Dallas Mavericks were coming off their worst loss of the season - a 147-116 blowout at the hands of Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Friday.

Less than 48 hours later, they had a chance to redeem themselves by playing the same opponent in the same arena. Their Slovenian sensation - Luka Doncic - led from the front, recording one of his best games of the seasons. 

His performance helped Dallas survive and escape Sunday night with a win, despite a 57-point scoring explosion from Stephen Curry. 

Here's a look at the numbers and all the records broken by the superstar duo in a duel that headlined this clash: 

Stephen Curry

Curry had one of those games. His 57 points are the second-most in his career, just five off the 62 points he scored earlier this year in January against the Portland Trail Blazers.

He's arguably the greatest shooter of all-time so it shouldn't be surprising but 33 of his 57 came from beyond the arc at an incredible efficiency of 11-of-19 (57.9%) from long distance, including one in the third quarter from the Mavericks logo.

Becoming the first player with multiple 50-point games this season, Curry recorded his ninth career game with at least 11 3-pointers - the most in NBA history, seven more than second-placed duo of Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson, who only have two such games.

"I don’t know if there’s a harder guy to play in basketball right now than Steph Curry because of all the different ways he affects the game and just his uncanny ability to make shots from anywhere on the floor," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said postgame.

The two-time former MVP also finished with five assists and a couple of steals while shooting a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Through 23 games this season, Curry is averaging 29.4 points per game - third-best in the league.

"He's never played better," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said postgame on Curry. "He looks so strong to me. He looks stronger to me, getting by people, fending them off on drives, finishing. Then the shot-making is almost unfathomable."

Luka Doncic

Matching his career-high of 42 points, Doncic helped the Mavs stay in the game, but it was the clutch dime to Maxi Klieber that sealed it. 

The 21-year-old also finished with 11 assists and seven rebounds. He shot 12-of-23 from the field (52.2%) - top 5 for him this season - and knocked down a season-high 7 3-pointers at an efficient clip of 58.3% - a season-high. 

This was his 10th straight game of scoring at least 25 points, making him the third player in franchise history after Mark Aguirre and Dirk Nowitzki to record such a streak. The final stat line brought up his sixth career game with at least 40 points and 10 assists while no other player in franchise history has recorded one.

Prior to this game, Doncic was having a rough past three weeks as the Mavericks had only won three of their last 13. The Slovenian sensation was also struggling from beyond the arc, knocking it down at 29.6% - the lowest of his career.

"I've got to have more fun playing the game to be who I was before," Doncic said postgame. "I've just got to get back to enjoying the game."

With this game, he seemed to have found his groove. He was one of six Mavericks to score in double figures in this one as they knocked down 21 3-pointers at a clip of 44.7%

Draymond Green's defence & playmaking

With both teams combining for 41 3-pointers and over 260 combined points, it was all offense in this game. Draymond Green, however, stood apart by recording one of the craziest stat lines in NBA history.

Playing 37 minutes, the forward only scored two points - both from the free-throw line - while stuffing the stat sheet with 15 assists, six rebounds, six steals, and four blocks. He is the first player in 30 seasons to finish 15+ assists, 5+ steals, and 5+ rebounds without making a single field goal.

His playmaking made him the first Warriors player since 1995 to record consecutive games of at least 15 assists.

Road Ahead

Can the Mavericks put together something here? They've won two of their last three and three of their next five games - all at home - are against teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and the Atlanta Hawks.

Meanwhile, the Warriors continue their Texas road trip to San Antonio to play the Spurs twice. 

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Yash Matange

Yash Matange Photo