By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Luka Doncic capped off a historic five-game run with 51 points. The Slovenian sensation had two rebounds and two free throws in the final 4.5 seconds, helping Dallas escape with a 126-125 victory over San Antonio for their sixth straight victory.
It was the third 50-point outing in the past five games for Doncic, including 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists Tuesday night in an overtime victory over New York. He’s the first player in NBA history with 250 points, 50 rebounds, and 50 assists over a five-game span.
Plus Doncic scored 526 points across 15 games in the month of December, averaging 35.1 points per game. This was the highest scoring month by any player in franchise history.
French guard Frank Ntilikina added nine points in the win over San Antonio.
Poland’s Jeremy Sochan had 20 points for the Spurs and Austrian Jakob Poeltl had 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Croatian veteran sharp shooter Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 points, including 17 in the third quarter as Detroit erased a double-digit deficit, and the Pistons got 65 points from their bench in a 116-104 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. French star Rudy Gobert had nine points and 10 rebounds for the losing side.
Tyler Herro made a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Miami Heat a 126-123 victory over the Utah Jazz who got 29 points by Finland’s pride Lauri Markkanen.
The rest of the games for the last day of 2022 in the NBA were the following, including European performances:
Indiana – LA Clippers 131-130 (Zubac 6 p. 7 r.)
Charlotte – Brooklyn 106-123 (Maledon 8 p. 3 as.)
Chicago – Cleveland 102-103 (Vucevic 11 p. 14 r. – Osman 12 p.)
Houston – New York 88-108 (Marjanovic 6 p. 3 r. Garuba 5 p. 8 r. – Fournier 8 p. Hartenstein 4 r.)
Memphis – New Orleans 116-101 (Valanciunas 6 p. 6 r. Hernangomez 11 p. 7 r.)
Oklahoma City – Philadelphia 96-115 (Korkmaz 7 p.)
Standings
Eastern Conference
1. Boston 26-10
2. Brooklyn 24-12
3. Milwaukee 23-12
4. Cleveland 23-14
5. Philadelphia 21-14
6. Indiana 20-17
7. Miami 19-18
8. NY Knicks 19-18
9. Atlanta 17-19
10. Chicago 16-20
11. Toronto 16-20
12. Washington 16-21
13. Orlando 13-24
14. Charlotte 10-27
15. Detroit 10-29
Western Conference
1. Denver 23-12
2. New Orleans 23-13
3. Memphis 22-13
4. Dallas 21-16
5. Sacramento 19-15
6. LA Clippers 21-17
7. Phoenix 20-17
8. Portland 18-17
9. Golden State 19-18
10. Utah 19-20
11. Minnesota 16-21
12. Oklahoma 15-21
13. LA Lakers 15-21
14. San Antonio 12-24
15. Houston 10-26