Mavs' Luka Doncic scores 45-plus points in second straight game

Luka Doncic really doesn't like the Clippers.

Doncic dropped 45 points against Los Angeles on Saturday night, his second straight game with at least 45 -- both of which came against the Clippers, against whom he is now averaging 35.4 points per game in their last 16 meetings. It wasn't enough to power the Mavericks to a win, however, as they lost 99-97.

Doncic started the game slowly, but he had nine points by the end of the first quarter. He moved at a similar pace in the second, scoring seven to give him 16 at the half as Dallas led by three.

He scored just six points in the third quarter, resting for much of it, and the Mavericks fell behind the Clippers 70-67 on a jumper from Terance Mann in the final seconds.

It was in the fourth quarter that Doncic -- and the game -- began to heat up. After going scoreless for the first few minutes, Doncic finally got on the board with the back end of a pair of free throws with just over seven minutes left in the game. On the next possession, he buried a deep step-back three.

From that point on, Doncic went nuclear. He assisted on a Reggie Bullock triple on the next possession, but after that scored every one of the Mavericks' points the rest of the game, scoring from beyond the arc, in the paint and at the free throw line.

With the game's outcome hanging in the balance, tensions were naturally high. They boiled over briefly when, after the ball went out of bounds, Doncic and Mann got in each other's faces and were assessed double technical fouls.