ShareLOS ANGELES: Luka Doncic scored 14 of his 32 points in the first quarter as the Dallas Mavericks got off to a hot start en route to a 108-85 NBA victory over the injury-hit Orlando Magic on Sunday. The Mavs, who came up short in their comeback bid against Houston on Thursday, took control early against an Orlando side missing 2023 Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero because of an oblique injury.
Dallas notched their highest-scoring first period of the season to take a 30-22 lead after one quarter and never trailed thereafter. Franz Wagner led the Magic with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, but Orlando made just eight of 41 three-point attempts and were out-scored 52-36 in the paint.
Doncic added nine rebounds and seven assists, Daniel Gafford scored 18 points and star guard Kyrie Irving chipped in 17 for Dallas, who led by as many as 33 points. “Today was real fun,” Doncic said. “We were guarding everybody, defending, rebounding, playing with a lot of pace. So that’s fun for me.”
Klay Thompson, a four-time NBA champion with Golden State who joined Dallas as a free agent this season, had a quiet night with nine points on four-of-10 shooting, connecting on just one of his five three-point attempts.
But Mavs coach Jason Kidd said he was impressed with Thompson’s impact apart from scoring. “I thought he played a great game,” Kidd said. “I know we look at him for scoring and shooting threes, but I thought his playmaking, his energy was high. He was moving on both ends at a very high level.”
The Detroit Pistons bounced back from a 30-point loss to the New York Knicks on Friday to claim their second victory of the season, 106-92 over the Nets in Brooklyn. Star guard Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists and for the first time this season each Pistons starter scored in double figures.
Tobias Harris scored 18 points on eight-of 13 shooting with six assists and five rebounds and Malik Beasley added 18 points off the bench for Detroit, who trailed by five at halftime but took the lead for good on Harris’s jump shot with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
‘Two-way Trae’
In New Orleans, Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson scored 29 points and Trae Young added 23 points, four rebounds, 12 assists and a steal as the Hawks handed the injury-depleted Pelicans their first home defeat this season 126-111.
New Orleans’ star big man Zion Williamson, who is averaging 21.4 points, eight rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, was ruled out with a tight right hamstring. He joined star guard CJ McCollum and forward Herbert Jones on the sideline, McCollum nursing a right adductor strain and Jones a shoulder injury. Forward Brandon Ingram did what he could to fill the void, scoring 32 points, but it wasn’t enough in the face of a balanced attack from Atlanta, who had six players score in double figures and out-scored the Pels 66-32 in the paint.
Atlanta’s Larry Nance, who scored 14 points off the bench against his former team, said the win started with an “impressive” performance from Young. “That was two-way Trae,” Nance said. “My man was getting steals, playing defense, diving on the floor. He dictated the game the entire second half.” — AFP
