Doncic surpasses Bird with 'special' triple-double as Mavs crush 'horrendous' Jazz

Luka Doncic hailed an "amazing" night after surpassing Larry Bird with the 60th triple-double of his NBA career, helping the Dallas Mavericks crush the Utah Jazz 147-97 on Wednesday.

Doncic recorded the first first-half triple-double of his career at American Airlines Center, finishing with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in just three periods as the Mavs dominated from the off.

The four-time All-Star brought up his 60th triple-double with just under a minute remaining in the second quarter, moving past Bird to go ninth outright in the league's all-time rankings.

Asked what it meant to surpass the Boston Celtics icon, Doncic said: "It's pretty amazing. I don't know what to say, honestly. We all know who Larry Bird is, so it's pretty special."

With 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the first half, Luka Doncic has officially recorded the highest-scoring triple-double in a half in NBA history. https://t.co/hqx0WqFuvi

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) December 7, 2023

Kyrie Irving added 26 points for Dallas, who had their highest-scoring game of this season and came up two points shy of the highest-scoring game ever in regulation.

Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who added 17 points in 22 minutes on the court, said after the win: "Luka set the tone with that, knocking down shot after shot after shot… after shot after shot after shot! I thought he was going to go 50-20-20!"

While Dallas snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 12-8, putting them fourth in the Western Conference standings, the Jazz sit 12th at 7-14 after a performance which left coach Will Hardy furious.

"That was an absolutely horrendous performance," Hardy fumed.

"It seemed like the Mavericks were moving at a different pace than we were from start to finish."

A 50-point win on a Wednesday @Chime // #MFFL pic.twitter.com/gaR7EkInaz

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) December 7, 2023