Doncic scores 53 in return, Mavericks beat Pistons 111-105

DALLAS (AP) —Luka Doncic had 53 points in his return to the lineup and SpencerDinwiddie scored 10 of his 12 in the fourth quarter as the DallasMavericks rallied to beat the Detroit Pistons 111-105 on Mondaynight.

Four ofDoncic’s five career 50-point games have come this season. Hescored a career-best 60 against the New York Knicks in a game thatwent to overtime on Dec. 27.

His 53 pointstied for second-most in Dallas history with Dirk Nowitzki’s totalagainst the Houston Rockets on Dec. 2, 2004.

Doncic had 24points in the first quarter and 18 in the third. Second in the NBAgoing in with an average of 33 points per game, he returned afterspraining his left ankle three-plus minutes into last Thursday’sgame at Phoenix and then missing Saturday’s game at Utah.

Usuallyanimated and vocal on the court, Doncic was particularly involvedin a running conversation with Pistons assistant coach JeromeAllen.

“From thefirst quarter, he was just chirping,” Doncic said. “I don’t want tosay the words. I have no problem with that. It’s basketball. Itgets me going, for sure.”

The Mavericks(27-25) moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, ahalf-game ahead of the four-team play-in positions.

BojanBogdanovic had 29 points and Saddiq Bey scored 18 — including five3-pointers — for the Pistons (13-39), who have lost six ofseven.

Doncic’sfinal basket was a shot that bounced off the front rim and droppedin to put Dallas ahead 109-105 with 46 seconds left. On thePistons’ next possession, Bogdanovic missed a long 3-pointer nearthe right sideline amid traffic and landed on his backside out ofbounds.

“We thoughtBojan got fouled,” Detroit coach Dwane Casey said. “You still haveto play in all those situations and close out the game, because weput ourselves in a situation to win.”

The Pistonswere called for 31 fouls to the Mavericks’ 18. Doncic was 14 of 18at the free throw line while Detroit went 19 for 27.

Detroit ledby 11 in the third quarter and 84-83 going into the fourth. Dallasopened the period on a 9-2 run with Doncic on the bench, asDinwiddie scored six points on his first three field goals of thegame.

Dinwiddie’s12 points followed his two highest-scoring games of the season — 36and 35 points in Doncic’s absence.

The Pistonsshook off a 10-0 deficit nearly three minutes in and grabbed theirfirst lead with 4:41 to play in the first quarter. They led 57-53at halftime.

ONE-MAN BAND

Doncic had 18of Dallas’ first 20 points and 24 of the Mavericks’ 30 in the firstquarter, the highest-scoring opening period for an NBA player thisseason. It was his fourth quarter with at least 20 points thisseason, tying Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving for most in the NBA.

“You couldn’task for a better quarter,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.

TIP-INS

Pistons:Bogdanovic has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 10games, the longest streak of his career and tied for thefourth-longest active streak in the NBA. … Reserve guard HamidouDiallo, who averages 17 minutes per game, was out with a stomachflu.

Mavericks:Kidd said the team expects a medical update later this week onstarting center Christian Wood, who missed his sixth consecutivegame with a broken left thumb. … Theo Pinson was assessed atechnical foul late in the first quarter while sitting near the endof the bench.