Doncic, Hardaway combine for 52 pts to down Raps
Global News
The one-two punch of Dallas Maverick guards Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr. delivered a second-half knockout blow to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
TORONTO – The one-two punch of Dallas Maverick guards Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr. delivered a second-half knockout blow to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
After a slow start, Doncic and Hardaway heated up in the third and fourth quarters to finish with 27 and 25 points, respectively, in the Mavericks 103-95 victory before a sellout gathering of 19,800 at Scotiabank Arena.
It was the Mavericks’ (1-1) first win of the season, while Toronto (1-2) could not build on its first win in Boston against the Celtics on Friday.
The Mavericks trailed by as much as 14 points early. But before the third quarter hit the midway point, Dallas had tied the game 62-62 thanks to a couple of three-point jumpers from Hardaway.
Canadian forward Dwight Powell then gave the Mavericks the lead for the first time on a nifty pass from guard Doncic.
Doncic nailed a three-pointer on Dallas’s next trip down the floor for a 67-62 lead. At the end of the third quarter, a brilliant alley-oop play from Fred VanVleet to Precious Achiuwa pulled the Raptors to within 74-72.
VanVleet finished with 20 points.
The Raptors had the difficult task of keeping Doncic at bay. The talented 22-year-old Slovenian was the 2018-19 NBA rookie of the year and a league all-star the past two seasons.
