Luka Doncic has brought up 10,000 career regular season points in style, carrying the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 win over the Phoenix Suns with a 50-point masterclass to close out the NBA’s slate of Christmas Day games.

Doncic went 8-for-16 from deep in the win to equal Australian Patty Mills’ record for most 3-pointers made in a Christmas Day game. Phoenix’s Grayson Allen (eight 3-pointers, 32 points) also equalled the record in defeat.

But it was Doncic who shone brightest for Dallas, finishing the game with 50 points, 14 assists, six rebounds, four steals and three blocks.

With it, Doncic tied Russell Westbrook for the fourth-most games with 40-plus points and 10-plus assists in NBA history at 17.

He also joined Bernard King, Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry as the only players in NBA history to have 50-point games on Christmas.

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Dereck Lively II, Derrick Jones Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined for 61 points, which was particularly valuable given Dallas only got 10 points from its bench.

Allen, meanwhile, led the way for the Suns while Chimezie Metu (23 points, 19 rebounds) was a force off the bench. Superstar duo Kevin Durant and Devin Booker combined for 36 points.

Australian Dante Exum was active on the boards early in Tuesday’s game, making an impact on the defensive end with hustle plays including a desperate play to deny a Drew Eubanks dunk early in the first quarter.

Doncic, meanwhile, started what was a dominant opening period from the Slovenian superstar in style as he found Lively II for the slam after being blitzed by the Suns defence.

That proved a consistent theme early in Tuesday’s game, both Doncic finding ways to take advantage of the double teams Phoenix was throwing at him and also continuing to develop his chemistry with Dallas’ rookie big man.

A five-point swing then put the Mavericks ahead 18-11 after a mix-up between Durant and Booker on a 2-on-1 fastbreak opportunity led to a turnover, which resulted in Exum finding Doncic in transition for a wide-open 3-pointer.

Doncic then drained an even deeper 3-pointer to bring up 10,000 career regular-season points, becoming the sixth-fastest in NBA history to reach the milestone in terms of age (24 years, 300 days), per Elias Sports Bureau.

Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Tracy McGrady were the other five players to reach the mark before turning 25.

Dallas was well in control at that point, staying alert on the defensive end to create easy opportunities for points on offence as Exum did when the Australian disrupted the passing lane to pounce on a Durant pass and then find Jones Jr. for the dunk.

Exum continued to make his mark as he drove the basket with confidence for the finish after Doncic was doubled, finding the versatile guard over the top.

Doncic did similar immediately after too, again going over the top and this time connecting with Lively II for the finish before Jaden Hardy drained a later 3-pointer to cap off a dominant opening quarter.

The Mavericks ended the first period up 36-24 off the back of 17 points, three rebounds, four assists and one steal from Doncic.

The Suns had a brief period to chip away at the Mavericks’ lead early in the second quarter with Doncic off the court but Dallas held firm and had a 46-35 buffer when the Slovenian superstar re-entered the game.

Doncic added another seven points and four assists in the second quarter as Booker, who went 1-for-5 from the field in the first quarter, added nine points for the Suns.

Metu had a handy nine points, five rebounds and an assist off the bench for Phoenix in the second quarter alone but it wasn’t enough to close the gap with Dallas taking a 64-54 lead into halftime.

Doncic finished the half scoring or assist on 42 points for the Mavs compared to 41 for all of the Suns starters.

The Suns were able to get something going early in the third though, forcing Dallas into a timeout as Allen and Eric Gordon combined for 14 points to cut the Mavericks’ lead to 75-71 with just under eight minutes left in the period.

That continued as Allen then forced a turnover on Doncic and then made a 3-pointer off the steal to give Phoenix its first lead of the game, up 84-82 at the 3:38 mark in the third.

Allen added another five quick points soon after to extend the Suns’ buffer to 89-84.

Doncic drained a much-needed 3-pointer late in the third before Allen put an exclamation point on a 19-point quarter for the 28-year-old as the Suns took a 92-91 lead into the final period.

Early in the fourth it was much of the same for Phoenix with Allen and Durant combining to score the Suns’ first eight points of the period as they led 100-96 with 10 minutes on the clock.

Doncic, meanwhile, was doing all he could to keep Dallas in touch as he made two 3-pointers in the space of a minute to get the Mavericks within a point.

The Mavericks were then able to go on a 12-4 run to take a 113-106 advantage heading into the final five minutes of the game, seeing the Suns call a timeout.

It didn’t have the desired result though as Phoenix continued to struggle to make shots and turned the ball over on the way to a 128-114 loss.

STEVE KERR SOUNDS OFF AFTER WARRIORS LOSS

Golden State coach Steve Kerr has sounded off on the state of officiating in the NBA after Nikola Jokic shot 18 free throws in Denver’s 120-114 win on Tuesday, describing it as “disgusting to watch”.

Kerr was asked post-game what he thought about the way the game was officiated in the second half and his frustration clearly extended beyond what he saw against the Nuggets.

“I have no problems with officials themselves,” Kerr said.

“All across the league we have really good officials. I have a problem with the way we are legislating defense out of the game. That’s what we’re doing in the NBA.

“The way we’re teaching officials, we’re just enabling players to BS their way to the foul line. If I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the second half of that game.

“It was disgusting. It was just baiting refs into calls, but the refs have to make these calls because that’s how they’re taught.

“I have a real problem with the way we have legislated defense out of the game in this league.

“And the players are really smart in this league. Over the last decade or so, they’ve gotten smarter and smarter, and we have enabled the players, and they are taking full advantage. It’s a parade to the free throw line, and it’s disgusting to watch.”

Jokic overcame a poor shooting day by going 18-for-18 at the free-throw line while Jamal Murray had 28 points as the reigning champion Nuggets took their winning streak to five games.

Despite connecting on just four of 12 shots from the field Jokic finished with 26 points, adding 14 rebounds and eight assists to help the Nuggets come out on top in a seesaw battle between the winners of the last two NBA titles.

Jokic’s left-handed basket with 5:16 to play put the Nuggets up for good and he added an exclamation point with a dunk that pushed the lead to 118-112 with 34.2 seconds left.

The Warriors came into the contest riding a five-game winning streak.

But superstar Stephen Curry endured a frustrating afternoon, scoring just four points in the first half on the way to a total of 18 on seven-of-21 shooting.

He was three-for-13 from three-point range and handed out four assists. Canada’s Andrew Wiggins helped keep the Warriors in it, scoring a team-high 22 points off the bench. But Murray and Jokic, who led the Nuggets to a franchise first title last season, proved too much down the stretch.

CELTICS MAKE STATEMENT DESPIT AD’S 40-POINT EXPLOSION

The Boston Celtics used a hot start and a strong finish to put away the Los Angeles Lakers 126-115 in a Christmas clash of storied NBA franchises.

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.

Lakers star LeBron James, coming off a 40-point performance in a win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City, scored just 16 points on five-of-14 shooting.

James added nine rebounds and eight assists, but a slightly “lethargic” start — which Lakers coach Darvin Ham said could have been due to holiday distractions or an unusually early afternoon start — proved too much to overcome.

The Celtics roared out of the gate to a 12-0 lead and led by as many as 18 before the Lakers began to chip away.

Davis scored 20 first-half points, driving for a basket that cut the deficit to 58-57 in the waning seconds of the first half.

Both teams got a scare late in the second period, when James and Jaylen Brown collided and both went down, James holding his left knee and Brown his back.

James would go briefly to the bench before returning while Brown went to the locker room and was diagnosed with a lower back contusion. He eventually returned to finish with 19 points.

Tatum said the thing he liked best about the victory was how Boston responded after the Lakers closed the gap then took a two-point lead early in the third on Jarred Vanderbilt’s dunk.

Boston answered with seven straight points and the Lakers wouldn’t get in front again as the Celtics improved to a league-best 23-6.

“And it’s a big win, right? It’s Christmas day and it’s tough to win on the road,” Tatum said. “So just the way we responded and executed late in the game.”

YOUNG ROOKIE SHINES FOR HEAT AS MAXEY SLUMPS FOR SIXERS

A quiet night from Tyrese Maxey and big game for rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. saw the Miami Heat outlast the Philadelphia 76ers 119-113 without superstar Jimmy Butler.

It was always going to be a challenging night for the Sixers without reigning MVP Joel Embiid (ankle), although the expectation was that Most Improved Player candidate Maxey would thrive with the added responsibility.

Instead, Maxey had a poor shooting night as he failed to score a single point in the first half, going 0-for-7 from the field while only adding two assists and one rebound.

Tyler Herro, meanwhile, had 16 points after going 3-for-4 from deep as the Heat took a 63-49 lead into halftime.

It wasn’t just Maxey though. The Sixers went over eight minutes without making a field goal and the Heat took full advantage early in the second quarter, going on a 22-1 run to take a 34-22 lead.

Philadelphia was able to claw its way back into the game despite falling further behind early in the third, outscoring Miami 37-23 in the period to tie the contest at 86-86 heading into the fourth.

The Heat had led by as much as 70-49 early in the third and were at risk of imploding after such a promising start to the game but held their nerve to close out the win in the fourth.

Jaquez Jr. made big plays on both ends of the floor, scoring 10 points to go with four rebounds in the final period to continue what has been an impressive rookie campaign.

Jaquez Jr. led Miami with 31 points, 10 rebounds and two steals while Bam Adebayo had 26 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Duncan Robinson, meanwhile, added a handy five 3-pointers off the bench while Kevin Love had eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Maxey finished with 12 points after shooting 4-for-20 from the field, with Tobias Harris (27 points) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (25 points) the top scorers for Philadelphia.

KNICKS SURPRISE BUCKS TO SNAP MILWAUKEE’S WINNING RUN

Earlier, Jalen Brunson scored 38 points as the New York Knicks finally got the better of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, halting the Bucks seven-game NBA win streak with a 129-122 victory at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks had lost their previous nine games against Milwaukee, including a 130-111 defeat on Sunday.

That followed a pair of comfortable Bucks wins earlier this season, but Brunson’s effort, along with a solid defensive showing, saw the Knicks come out on top in the first game of the NBA’s Christmas Day slate.

“I’m just happy the way we played today, we kept fighting,” Brunson said after the Bucks cut a 14-point deficit to four midway through the third quarter before the Knicks pulled away again.

“They made a run but we stayed poised,” Brunson said.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit, they’re a hell of a team so I’m just happy we got away with a win.”

Julius Randle scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, RJ Barrett bounced back from a disappointing showing on Saturday to score 21 points and Immanuel Quickley added 20 off the bench for the Knicks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard each scored 32 points apiece for Milwaukee.

Antetokounmpo added 13 rebounds but the Bucks never led after the first quarter.

“I thought they out-competed us today for the most part,” Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said.

“Offensively we got some good looks but we just couldn’t knock ‘em down. And when you’re on the road and you get clean looks you’ve got to knock them down.

“I think we missed quite a few at the rim,” he added.

“I think it took some of the air out of us.”