The Dallas Mavericks (16-8) hung on for a 125-118 win over the Toronto Raptors (7-16) on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena to push their winning streak to seven games in a row. There may have been some angst involved in the second half, but you can’t argue with the results, as the Mavs have now rattled off wins in 11 of their last 12 games.
Luka Dončić notched his second straight triple-double in the win. He scored 30 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and dished 11 assists. His six made 3-pointers were a season-high. Kyrie Irving added 29 points and six boards. Toronto sharpshooter Gradey Dick led the Raptors with 27 points, his sixth game of the season scoring 25 or more.
The Mavericks have overcome a brutal stretch of the schedule in terms of travel and kept winning in spite of it all. Here are five stats that stood out in the Mavs’ latest trip to the win column.
16: Kyrie Irving first-quarter points
Irving’s 16 points in the first were the most he’s scored in the opening quarter in his time with the Mavericks. He was cooking from 3-point range to open the game, connecting on 4-of-5 of his attempts from deep. Three of those came on three consecutive possessions late in the quarter as the Mavs began to pull away. The Mavs were hanging onto a 22-21 lead with 2:48 left, but just a little more than a minute later, after those three 3-pointers, Dallas was up 31-23. The Mavericks led 35-28 after one.
Kyrie Irving tallied 16 points (5-6 FG, 4-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) in the first quarter tonight at TOR, marking his highest-scoring opening quarter as a Maverick.
It also ties his most pts in any quarter this year (16 in 3rd at MIN 10/29; 16 in 4th at DEN 11/10; 16 in 4th at ATL 11/25). pic.twitter.com/vFMHG3PLTk
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) December 8, 2024
10, 5: Luka Dončić second-quarter points and assists
It was Dončić’s turn in the second quarter. He made three of his four field goal attempts in the frame, including 2-of-3 shooting from deep. His buzzer-beating banker from near half court gave the Mavs their biggest lead of the game to that point — Dallas took a 70-54 advantage into halftime.
If you’ve been living under a rock for the last seven years and are still searching for a way to quantify Dončić’s impact on every game he plays, here’s one that sums it up pretty well. The Mavericks made eight field goals in the second quarter, and Dončić scored or assisted on every one. He made literally everything happen for Dallas in the second quarter as Dallas’ lead ballooned to 16 points at the break. The offensive brilliance of the Mavericks’ dynamic duo was on full display in the first half, and the Raptors had no answer for Dončić or Irving.
20, 5, 5: Dončić reaches rare statistical air
Luka Dončić has recorded his 300th career 20-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist effort in his 418th career game tonight at TOR.
Dončić (25 yrs, 283 days) becomes the second-fastest to the milestone in terms of age (LeBron James; 25 yrs, 61 days) and games played (Oscar Robertson; 342). pic.twitter.com/2bNzvk4o1Y
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) December 8, 2024
Dončić’s fourth 3-point make, which came with 10 minutes left in the third quarter, put him at 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the game. The win over the Raptors was his 300th career game of at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, making the Dončić the second-fastest player in NBA history in terms of both games (418) and age (25 years, 283 days) to reach 300 games of at least 20, five and five.
Only LeBron James was younger (25 years, 61 days) when he reached 300 such games, and only Oscar Robertson reached 300 of those games faster than Dončić (342 games). Later in the third, when Dončić completed his second straight game with a triple-double, he moved into sole possession of seventh all-time in career triple-doubles, with 79, passing James Harden and Wilt Chamberlain. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd is sixth all-time at 107.
14-0: Raptors’ late run
Dallas Mavericks v Toronto Raptors Klay Thompson #31 of the Dallas Mavericks goes to the basket against Jakob Poeltl #19 of the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on December 7, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Photo by Andrew Lahodynskyj/Getty Images
The Raptors went on an 11-0 run to close the third quarter to get back within 13 points, down 100-87 headed into the fourth. Kelly Olynyk hit a corner 3-pointer with just under two minutes left in the third, and then Scottie Barnes connected on another 3-ball with just two ticks left in the frame to make it 100-87. Klay Thompson ended the run after Barnes opened the fourth with another 3-pointer on Toronto’s first possession of the frame. Thompson’s third 3-pointer of the game, which came with just over 10 minutes to play, gave Dallas a 103-89 lead. It was a four-minute scoring drought across the end of the third and the start of the fourth for the Mavs before that.
Unfortunately for the Mavericks, stopping the run didn’t stop the Raptors’ momentum late in the game. Toronto whittled the lead all the way down to six points midway through the fourth with another little 10-2 run sparked by Jakob Poetl, who scored or assisted on four of the made baskets in the run. He found Ja’Kobe Walter for a pull-up jumper with 4:38 to play that made it 114-108. Poetl finished with 20 points and a season-high seven assists from the center position in the loss.
8-of-16: Klay Thompson shooting
Thompson continues to show signs of life after his tough shooting stretch. He hit on just three of his nine 3-point attempts but shot 8-of-16 overall in the win. He scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds against the Raptors, and the Mavs will take that every time. He scored seven in the fourth. We’re just looking for positive signs from Thompson at this point, and Saturday night was definitely a positive sign. He has now hit three or more 3-pointers in four of his last six games.
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