(AP) — DALLAS — In comparison to LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic did not have as strong of a performance in the fourth quarter.

The Dallas Mavericks got back on track with a victory thanks in large part to the contributions of their superstar player.

After a rare scoreless first quarter, Doncic scored 23 points to lead the Mavericks to a 124-118 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night. This victory helped the Mavericks overcome the fact that Ball had his first 30-point triple-double in the game.

Ball finished the game with 30 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds while scoring 23 of those points in the fourth quarter alone. The Hornets were unable to maintain their first-half advantage of 15 points a night after coming back to win by one point against Indiana with a furious fourth-quarter comeback.

“All I’m doing, to be honest, is trying to win. Ball, who shot 8 for 9 from the field and 5 for 6 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, which was the greatest scoring quarter of his career, remarked that he was “trying to do as much as I could.” “Things didn’t really work out in our favor in the end.”

The Mavericks, who had just suffered their first loss of the season, were led in scoring by freshman Dereck Lively II, who had 15 points, 14 rebounds, and a key block in the fourth quarter. Grant Williams contributed 18 points, including a trio of 3-pointers in the final period, and the Mavericks were coming off their first defeat of the year.

In the final 8.4 seconds of the game, a shot-clock violation was called against Dallas, giving the Hornets an opportunity to equalize the score. However, the rookie Brandon Miller was unable to get a shot off before the 5-second call, and Ball committed a foul on Kyrie Irving before Dallas inbounded the ball.

After Irving’s first free shot gave the Mavericks a 120-116 lead and they held possession of the ball, he hit two more free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining to virtually ensure that Dallas would win their fifth game in a row.

In response to a question regarding the late inbound play, Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford stated, “I’m not going to say anything about that.” “I wasn’t able to witness it. Regarding the topic, I have nothing else to add.

Doncic, who had just one scoreless first quarter the previous year, went 8 for 15 after his 0-for-4 start, although he was only 1 for 9 from long range, and he finished with 12 rebounds and nine assists. Last year, Doncic had only one scoreless first quarter.

Irving finished with 18 points and 10 assists in the night.

“When we have 77 and 11, it’s an easy thing,” remarked Dallas coach Jason Kidd in reference to Doncic and Irving. “I thought that our quarterback was doing a fantastic job, and our receivers were doing a fantastic job along with him.”

Mark Williams scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while also contributing 19 points for the Hornets. Gordon Hayward and P.J. Washington each scored 20 points for Charlotte.

Ball had 11 assists before scoring his first score on a layup toward the end of the first half. At that time, Charlotte had shot 57% from the field and was leading 60-45 near the end of the second quarter. Before the half, Hayward was responsible for 15 of the team’s points.

In the final minute of the first half, the Mavericks stepped up their defensive intensity, which resulted in three missed shots by Dallas. However, Doncic’s missed 3-pointer in the dying seconds of the game meant that Dallas had to settle for a 12-point disadvantage.

After the half, Dallas maintained its strong defensive play, limiting Charlotte to a shooting percentage of 42%.

Doncic received his second technical foul of the season following a foul call that he did not agree with. following he was penalized for pushing Hayward on a jumper, Doncic was asking for another technical penalty to be assessed against him.

Doncic yelled to nobody in particular after grabbing the rebound following Hayward’s missed chances at the free throw line. He then proceeded to hit a step-back jump shot at the other end of the court while making more gestures.

In the fourth quarter, Doncic achieved a double-double with 10 points and four assists.

Clifford stated that in order to defend Doncic, “We changed coverages,” during the game. “We actually experimented with maybe four or five different approaches. And with that, he finished us off. They had him for nine assists, but he was virtually entirely responsible for creating their offensive opportunities. And we were completely stumped as to how we could stop him.”