Durant’s triple-double clinches Phoenix’s win, Doncic can’t do it all

Kevin Durant had his first triple-double of the season and 18th of his career to lead the Suns to victory in Houston. It was Luka Doncic who again broke the 30-point mark, but he didn’t avert the Mavericks’ home defeat.

Published

9 months ago

28. 12. 2023

David Sobola

Durant has a triple-double with a personal best

In the game Houston Rockets vs Phoenix Suns (113:129) the Suns star scored his first triple-double of the season and the 18th of his career. In the game Durant scored 27 points, 10 rebounds, but most importantly 16 assists, which is his new personal best.

In more than 1,000 games played in the NBA, Durant has never managed to produce so many accurate passes for his teammates in a single game. He already ranks 32nd in triple-doubles in the all-time list and is only two triple-doubles behind the legendary Charles Barkley, for example.

Kevin Durant triple-double leads Suns past Rockets https://t.co/iG6tO2iQyl
— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) December 28, 2023

Along with Durant, the Suns were led by Eric Gordon and the team’s second star Devin Booker, who loaded the Rockets’ basket with 27 and 20 points respectively. On the home side, only Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun managed more than 20 points.

Doncic’s other 30-point performance wasn’t enough

In the game Dallas Mavericks vs Cleveland Cavaliers (110:113), Luka Doncic had his traditional above-standard performance, scoring 40 points. He finished the game with 39 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Slovenian has scored at least 30 points in 14 of his last 15 games. With an average of 33.7 points per game, he is closing in on the previous leader Joel Embiid of Philadelphia (35).

With 939 points on the season, he is the best in the league ahead of Adetokunbo and Embiid. However, it wasn’t enough for the Mavericks to win, as none of his teammates supported him with more than 19 points.

On the Cavaliers’ side, Jarret Allen in particular gave a great performance, scoring 24 points, but most importantly, he had 23 rebounds. It was one of his lifetime performances in the NBA. He was supported by Caris Levert, who scored 29 points in 28 minutes on the bench.

Source: NBA