By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Both Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic delivered a pair of epic performances and scored 38 points apiece in Thursday’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets. In the end, it was the Slovenian star that won this mega Euro-duel and got the win as the Mavs prevailed 124 – 117 in overtime.
Apart from his season-high 38 points, Doncic finished with 13 assists (also a season-high) and nine rebounds in 43 minutes. Maxi Kleber added nine points and eight rebounds, while scoring a go-ahead 3-pointer for the 109-107 after a pass by Doncic with less than three seconds to play in regulation.
The game wasn’t over then since Jokic pulled off a contested jumper to send the affair to overtime. The Serbian big man finished with 11 rebounds and four assists, along with the 38 points but his team fell in the extra period.
Boban Marjanovic added a season-high 12 points in 16 minutes for the Mavs.
Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Portland Trail Blazers routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 135 – 117 at home. Enes Kanter added nine points for Portland.
Juancho Hernangomez scored 12 points and got six rebounds for the Timberwolves while his Spanish national team teammate Ricky Rubio delivered 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals to go with his two points.
In Memphis, Cedi Osman produced 16 points, a season-high seven assists and five rebounds to help the Clevelad Cavaliers beat the Grizzlies 94 – 90. Jonas Valanciuns finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for the local team.
The rest of Thursday’s NBA results and Euro-scorers:
Brooklyn Nets – Philadelphia 76ers 122 – 109 (Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot nine points)
Los Angeles Lakers – San Antonio Spurs 118 – 109 (Dennis Schroder six points, Marc Gasol four points, Jakob Poeltl three points/six rebounds)