After a crunch time loss during his initial return to Chase Center in November, Klay Thompson and his Dallas Mavericks nabbed the win over the Golden State Warriors Sunday night. He scored a season-high 29 points and knocked down seven threes.
With 48 combined 3-pointers, Golden State and Dallas set an NBA record for most in a singular game. The Warriors hit 27 of their 54 attempts, while the Mavericks converted 21 of their 41 long balls. Yet the Warriors’ torrid outside shooting wasn’t enough to best Luka Doncic’s 45-point outburst. The Slovenian recorded a triple-double before the third quarter ended and powered Dallas to a 143-133 victory.
LUKA AND KLAY TURNING UP ON THE WARRIORS 🔥
Luka's block ➡️ Klay 3 ball pic.twitter.com/ZelmipR4ky
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 16, 2024
Doncic’s 45 points marked a season-high and he’s now notched nine career 40-point triple-doubles — the fourth-most in NBA history. Sunday’s effort was his third triple-double over the past four games.
“No team could miss. They had 18 threes at halftime and we were still up, which is insane,” Doncic told reporters postgame. “Felt like nobody could miss. It was a fun game. Lot of makes. But it was a physical game, too.”
Although Doncic’s greatness wasn’t a solo effort, with Thompson scoring 29 and Kyrie Irving adding 21 points and eight assists, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made clear why his club lost Sunday evening.
“The issue was Luka Dončić. That was the issue,” Kerr told reporters postgame. “I think they made their first nine shots, I think he made three of them and had three more assists. So, he was incredible. Give him credit, give Dallas credit. They’ve got a hell of a team. … We tried a lot of different things.”
