By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) – The Dallas Mavericks beat Brooklyn Nets 123-111 behind their Slovenian star Luka Doncic in Thursday's NBA game.
Doncic tallied 31 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for Mavericks in Dallas. Mavericks' shooting guard Seth
Curry also scored 25 points to contribute the win.
Mavericks are now in the fifth spot in the Western Conference, having 22-12 win/loss record.
Spending his second season in NBA, 20-year-old Doncic won the 2018-2019 Rookie of the Year award in June 2019 in his first season.
A former Real Madrid forward, Doncic likely to be starting in the 2020 NBA All-Star as he got more than 1 million fan votes.
"Doncic, the 2018-19 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, leads all NBA players with 1,073,957 fan votes to earn the top spot among Western Conference guards," NBA said on its website.
This season Doncic averaged 29 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.9 assists.
The Houston Rockets superstar James Harden was following Doncic with 749,080 votes.
The NBA All-Star Voting started on Dec. 25 and will run until Jan. 20.
Here are the first ballot returns of NBA All-Star fan voting:
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 1,073,358
2. Joel Embiid (PHI) 606,534
3. Pascal Siakam (TOR) 544,302
4. Jimmy Butler (MIA) 431,483
5. Jayson Tatum (BOS) 364,137
6. Tacko Fall (BOS) 110,269
7. Bam Adebayo (MIA) 104,086
8. Gordon Hayward (BOS) 75,420
9. Andre Drummond (DET) 68,076
10. Domantas Sabonis (IND) 67,482
Guards
1. Trae Young (ATL) 443,412
2. Kyrie Irving (BKN) 432,481
3. Kemba Walker (BOS) 432,031
4. Derrick Rose (DET) 233,669
5. Zach LaVine (CHI) 174,991
6. Ben Simmons (PHI) 159,065
7. Jaylen Brown (BOS) 156,537
8. Kyle Lowry (TOR) 154,139
9. Bradley Beal (WAS) 149,640
10. Spencer Dinwiddie (BKN) 94,618
* * *
Western Conference
Frontcourt
1. LeBron James (LAL) 1,020,851
2. Anthony Davis (LAL) 955,246
3. Kawhi Leonard (LAC) 740,657
4. Paul George (LAC) 280,894
5. Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) 173,129
6. Kristaps Porzingis (DAL) 171,749
7. Nikola Jokić (DEN) 160,934
8. Carmelo Anthony (POR) 142,292
9. Brandon Ingram (NOP) 118,188
10. Dwight Howard (LAL) 69,785
Guards
1. Luka Dončić (DAL) 1,073,957
2. James Harden (HOU) 749,080
3. Damian Lillard (POR) 202,498
4. Stephen Curry (GSW) 191,149
5. Russell Westbrook (HOU) 189,005
6. D’Angelo Russell (GSW) 122,499
7. Donovan Mitchell (UTA) 108,349
8. Alex Caruso (LAL) 92,233
9. Devin Booker (PHX) 91,817
10. Ja Morant (MEM) 77,081
*Source: nba.com
– Giannis, Harden named players of month
Milwaukee Bucks' superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Houston Rockets' superstar James Harden have been named KIA Eastern and Western Conference players of the month, respectively, for the games played in the month of December.
Antetokounmpo won the award in back-to-back months this season and finished December with 29.3 points per game, 12 rebounds per game and 5.3 assists per game.
Harden, who continues to lead the league in points per game, averaged 37.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.
Meanwhile, Miami Heat's Kendrick Nunn and Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant were named rookies of the month for December.
Both players averaged 15.5 points per game, 0.5 steals per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. Morant had 6.5 assists average while Nunn had 3.9 assists per game in the month of December.
– Thursday's results:
Dallas Mavericks – Brooklyn Nets: 123-111
Cleveland Cavaliers – Charlotte Hornets: 106-109
Indiana Pacers – Denver Nuggets: 116-124
Miami Heat – Toronto Raptors: 84-76
Minnesota Timberwolves – Golden State Warriors: 99-84
Chicago Bulls – Utah Jazz: 98-102
San Antonio Spurs – Oklahoma City Thunder: 103-109
Sacramento Kings – Memphis Grizzlies: 128-123
Los Angeles Clippers – Detroit Pistons: 126-112
