Doncic among players who are literally scoring at will this season

When it comes to the best players the NBA has to offer, the cream really has risen to the top this season. As in the best players have continued to top one another.

Not only did Dallas Mavericks superstar point guard Luka Doncic become the talk of the NBA when he became the first player in league history with a 60-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist triple-double after he poured in 60 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and distributed 10 assists Dec. 28 against the New York Knicks. But Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell also reached a mountaintop Monday when he popped in a career-high 71 points against the Chicago Bulls, which were the most points scored in an NBA game since Kobe Bryant fired in 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006.

Mitchell’s performance came on the same night Golden State guard Klay Thompson scored 54 points in a win over Atlanta, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan tallied 44 points during that loss to the Cavs, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James scored 43 points in a win over Charlotte, and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid collected 44 points during a victory over New Orleans.

That’s the first time in the modern NBA era that at least five players scored 40 or more points on the same day. And it was a day where Doncic tallied 39 points in a triumph over Houston.

In all, there have been 14 games this season where a player had scored 50 or more points, including a 59-point game by Embiid during a 105-98 victory over the Utah Jazz back on Nov. 13. Last season NBA players combined for 19 games where they scored 50 or more points, and during the 20-21 season they totaled just 14 such games.

So, why are so many players just absolutely torching defenses quicker than someone can say jump shot?

“They’re good,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I think Klay’s game didn’t even get talked about because he scored 54, because you had 71 (from Mitchell) that night.

“It just shows how talented these young players are. They’re playing at a high level and they’re scoring the ball.”

Mitchell became just the seventh player to score at least 70 points in a game, and the first since Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker tallied 70 points against the Boston Celtics on March 24, 2017. The run of players in today’s game who can score at least 40 points at a moment’s notice just shows that the league is in good shape as far as entertaining the fans and giving the fans what they want – a bushel of points scored.

“I think you have a lot of young competitive guys,” Kidd said. “The triple-double used to be a hard thing to achieve. Now that happens every game.

“(Scoring) 50 is going to be just the normal score. Now it’s going to be 60, 70. There’s going to be someone who is going to score 100 here at some point. That’s just the way the game is going.”

The other players to score at least 70 points in a game besides Bryant, Mitchell and Booker are Wilt Chamberlain — he did it six times – David Thompson, Elgin Baylor and David Thompson. Chamberlain, in fact, holds the NBA record for most points scored in a game when he tallied a whopping 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962 during a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks.

Before producing his historic 60-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, Doncic manufactured a 50-point, eight-rebound, 10-assist game on Dec. 23 against the Rockets. He also had a 51-point game against San Antonio this past Saturday when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said their goal was to try and hold him to under 50 points.

And not to be outdone, Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo notched a career-high 55 points during Tuesday’s win against the Washington Wizards. Even in a loss to the Bulls on Wednesday, Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant managed to score 44 points.

The video game type productions from the players have no doubt amazed fans all over the world.

“It’s been an incredible run for the whole NBA,” said Doncic, who leads the NBA in scoring with 34.3 points per game. “You can see how much talent is in this game, how many great amazing players there are in this league.”

For his part, Doncic was named the Western Conference Player of the Month after he averaged 35.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.3 assists in that month. He also has five other games this season where he’s scored at least 40 points.

Kidd said the reason individual scoring around the NBA has soared is because the players can really shoot the ball with premium accuracy.

“Being able to get to the rim, get to the free throw line, but being able to shoot the three is important,” he said. “I think when you look at the three and how important it is, it just helps you get to the 50- or 60-mark a little bit easier than old school when you had to shoot inside the three-point line and get to the free throw line 20-something times.

“I just think with the three, if you can mix in a couple of threes, it just helps you get there.”

Doncic was asked if the competitive element came into play where one player sees another player scoring 50 points, and that player wants to one-up a player.

“Maybe,” Doncic said. “I don’t know. Every player is different, so I don’t know.”

And when asked if he was going to one-up Mitchell one day and score 72 points, Doncic, who averaged 46.3 points over his last four games, smiled and said: “Probably not.”

From a coach trying to design a scheme to slow down these hot shooters, the plethora of points being scored tells Kidd one important thing.

“We’ve got to figure out how to maybe play a little bit better defense,” he said. “But it just shows how good these guys are.”

BRIEFLY: Neither Josh Green (sprained right elbow) or Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor strain) will play when the Mavs (22-16) host the Boston Celtics (26-12) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center in a game that will be televised nationally on TNT. “Josh participated in some work today and Doe (Finney-Smith) is still on his beach body workout,” coach Jason Kidd said. “(Josh) hasn’t done anything with contact.”. .The Mavs currently have the NBA’s longest winning streak at seven games in a row. It’s the franchise’s longest winning streak since the Mavs won eight consecutive games from Feb. 12-March 4, 2011 during their ‘11 championship season when Kidd was the team’s starting point guard. So what has Kidd noticed from his team during this latest winning streak? “I think we’re connected,” he said. “When you talk about offense, we’re scoring the ball at a high rate. And then defensively, late in the games (we’re) coming up with blocks or key stops or steals or rebounds, but also just with the injuries and the next man up mentality. Everybody is participating and everybody is helping us win.” Point guard Luka Doncic agreed with Kidd about his assessment of the Mavs during the seven-game winning streak. Doncic also pointed to Monday’s game against the Houston Rockets when the Mavs fell behind by 18 points in the third quarter, but dug deep and still found a way to win, 111-106. “I think we’re just more together, playing for each other, with each other,” Doncic said. “Like last game (against Houston) we didn’t do great on offense, but we got stops at the end that won us the game. We just got to keep working on our defense.”. .The Mavs have been without Green since he was injured during a Dec. 9 game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and also without center Maxi Kleber since he tore his right hamstring during practice on Dec. 13 and subsequently underwent surgery. In addition, Finney-Smith hasn’t played since he sustained his injury in a Dec. 19 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Those three injuries forced the Mavs to go to their capable bench for immediate help, and the help has come through big-time. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing when you have guys hurt,” Kidd said. “You like to have health. But we were healthy for the early part of the season and now with some injuries we end up playing offensively well. And then finding ways to get stops here lately, its helped us with this winning streak. But hopefully as we start to get guys healthy with Josh and Doe (Finney-Smith) hopefully coming back (soon), that just makes us better and stronger as we go forward.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice