Doncic dazzles in Mavs win, Celtics top Lakers in NBA Christmas clash

LOS ANGELES: Luka Doncic scored 50 points, hitting the 10,000-point plateau as he propelled the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 victory over Phoenix on Monday (Dec 25) as Boston downed the Lakers in a Christmas clash of storied NBA rivals.

Doncic drilled eight three-pointers, his long trey with 4:52 left in the first quarter taking him past 10,000 career points.

The 24-year-old Serbian is the sixth-fastest to reach 10,000 points in terms of age and tied for the seventh-fastest in terms of games played at 358.

Doncic's milestone bucket put the Mavs up 21-11. But he and the Mavericks had plenty more work to do against a determined Suns team that rallied from a 15-point deficit and led by six early in the fourth quarter.

A 17-4 scoring run midway through the final quarter carried Dallas to a 115-106 lead and Dallas held on from there, Doncic revelling in the victory in front of hostile Suns fans.

"It's fun for me," said Doncic, who added six rebounds, 15 assists, four steals and three blocked shots. "When you make a shot, the whole gym is quiet. So that's the best feeling in the world."

Grayson Allen scored 19 of his 32 points in the third quarter for Phoenix. Devin Booker added 20 points and 10 assists and Kevin Durant scored 16, but the night belonged to Doncic.

He made all 12 of his free throws as he became the fourth player to score 50 or more points on Christmas, which the NBA traditionally celebrates with a slate of marquee games.

On Monday that included the Celtics at the Lakers - the two teams with the most NBA titles at 17 apiece.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 28 points and pulled down 11 rebounds and Jayson Tatum added 25 points for the Celtics, who withstood a 40-point effort from Lakers star Anthony Davis in their 126-115