"82 points right here": Grant Williams hysterically combines his 9 points with Luka Doncic's 73 in congratulatory message
Luka Doncic lit up the State Farm Arena with a mammoth 73-point performance against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday as they edged out the hosts 147-143 in a high-scoring contest.
The guard added 10 rebounds and seven assists, shooting 25-of-33. His supreme effort is now tied for the fourth-highest scoring history in the NBA, as he trails legends Wilt Chamberlain (100 points), Kobe Bryant (81 points), and Chamberlain again (78 points). And adding a bit of fun to it was his teammate, Grant Williams.
Taking to social media soon after the Mavericks win, Williams, who had 9 points in the game, posted a picture of himself and Doncic and had a hilarious caption to go with it.
82 points right here Congrats brother that was special to witness it
The laughs aside, it was a special night for Doncic as he surpassed his 60-point outing against the New York Knicks in December 2022. On the game front, Josh Green (21 points) was the only other Dallas player with a 20-point showing.
The Hawks put up a spirited fight, with Trae Young pouring in 30 points and being ably assisted by Bogdan Bogdanovich (24 points), Dejounte Murray (22 points), and Jalen Johnson (25 points).
Luka Doncic had a modest response when asked about his stellar performance
Luka Doncic was phenomenal on a night where it seemed it was one man against a defiant Atlanta side. When asked about his herculean night, the 24-year-old Slovenian had a simple response.
“I was just going."
Doncic also became the 10th player in league history to score 70 or more points and the fourth to do so in the last year.
This stellar showdown impressed former Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki and Golden State Warriors champion Draymond Green, who, according to a Sports Illustrated report, called the performance “unreal.”
The guard is now averaging 34.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 9.2 assists this season, putting his name right back on the list of MVP contenders. The win also made sure that the Mavericks broke their three-game losing slump and improved to 25-20.
The win in a larger frame does little, as they will need to string up a few more of those to get to the top five in a stacked Western Conference. Dallas is placed eighth in the standings.
Luka Doncic and the Mavericks take on the Sacramento Kings and the Orlando Magic next, hoping to extend their winning streak.