Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic now in Michael Jordan’s company with unique record: All you need to know

Luka Doncic made history during the Dallas Mavericks' 114-105 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Doncic became the first player since Michael Jordan to score at least 30 points in the first six games of a season.

The 23-year-old needed just two quarters (18 minutes of action) to reach the 30-point mark and keep his streak alive. Doncic finished the game with 44 points on 65.4% shooting from the field.

The game was the second of a back-to-back, which made the win all the more impressive. Doncic and the Mavericks had just suffered a fourth quarter collapse against the OKC Thunder the previous night.

The Mavs were leading 97-81 with 4:14 remaining. However, they allowed the Thunder to go on a 18-2 run to tie the game and force overtime, where they went on to lose 117-111. In doing so, the Mavs became just the second team in 25 years to blow a 16+ point lead with four minutes remaining.

Luka Doncic struggled from the field against the Thunder and made just eight of his 23 field goal attempts. He was also zero of six from deep. However, he still managed to record a 31-point triple-double.

After the game, Doncic took responsibility for the team’s loss:

“It’s on me. I didn’t lead the team. I didn’t make shots. That game’s on me. I didn’t do what was needed to do to win,” Doncic said.

Doncic definitely redeemed himself against Orlando, though, as he finished with both a season-high in points and efficiency.

After Sunday’s game, Doncic spoke about how he doesn’t expect to score 30 points every night moving forward as he has capable teammates:

He said:

"Some nights, I'm going to get doubled every time. There's different teams, different coaches.

"I don't feel like I have to score 30 every night. We have capable players. I don't think it's going to be every night."

That may be true, but the Mavericks still lack star power and run a very heliocentric offense through Doncic. So it’s likely he will continue to have high-scoring nights on a regular basis.

Doncic is currently averaging 36.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game on 50.3% shooting. He currently leads the league in scoring. Following the win, the Mavs are also back at .500 (3-3) and currently sit in 10th position in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks' next game is against the Utah Jazz at home on Wednesday. Luka Doncic will be looking to pass Michael Jordan’s 30-point streak of six games to start a season.

How long can Luka Doncic’s 30-point game streak last?

Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Luka Doncic

It’s tough to predict exactly how long Luka Doncic’s 30-point game streak could go on. But one would think that his streak is most likely to end against a top-rated defense.

The OKC Thunder, who held Doncic to a season-low 31 points, currently rank sixth in team defensive rating at 107.9. The Phoenix Suns, who held Doncic to 35 points, are also ranked fourth in defensive rating at 106.2.

So looking at the Mavericks' next 10 games, they will face four teams with top-ten defenses. This includes their next game against the Utah Jazz (eighth in defensive rating at 109.4). It also includes games against the Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers and LA Clippers.

The Mavs will not face a top-five ranked defense until Nov. 27 against the Milwaukee Bucks (league-best 102.6 defensive rating).

So simply put, if Luka Doncic keeps recording a 40.8% usage rate as he has been, his 30-point streak has a good chance of continuing. At the very least, we can expect him to average 30 points per game for the season, for the first time in his career.