Luka Doncic made a new record again. The 20-year-old young star dropped 41 points, six rebounds, and 10 assists to help the visiting Dallas Mavericks defeat the Houston Rockets 137-123 at the Toyota Center, claiming the team's fifth straight victory and rising to No. 3 in the Western Conference.

Doncic became the second-youngest player in NBA history to score 30+points in four consecutive games after Kevin Durant; he is now one of the three active players who put down 30+points, 10+assists in at least four games in a row – the other two being Russell Westbrook and James Harden. 

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, LeBron James used to be the only one who had multiple 40-point+10-assist games before turning 21. Then Doncic did it twice in four games. Justin Kubatko of StaMuse revealed that Doncic reached 2,000 points this afternoon – he dropped 2,016 points, 725 rebounds, and 585 assists in 88 games. The only one who reached these numbers in fewer games was Oscar Robertson.

No wonder Mavericks fans chanted "MVP" for Doncic when he left the Toyota Center. As a matter of fact, he's already considered as one of the leading NBA MVP candidates along with LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and James Harden.

"Luka runs the show. We all depend on him most of the game, and he's playing incredible right now. He's getting guys open looks… He's playing incredible right now. I'm super happy for him," said Kristaps Porzingis of Doncic.

We have already talked too much about how great Doncic is, so this time we want to go for that fundamental factor that makes him who he is today.

Doncic is a young, smart, quick-minded, born-orchestrator who follows modern basketball trend to polish his offensive skills.

First, he does not share the monstrous physical talents of James and Antetokounmpo. In fact, even Harden has better athleticism than Doncic. The Slovenian young man's talents lie somewhere else: the way he thinks on the court.

Unlike Harden and Antetokounmpo, who switch to orchestrating in their careers, Doncic began as a commander. He keeps an eye on everything on the court and is always ready to react to whatever happens in front of him. That's why he does not have to keep the ball in his hands for the whole time to create opportunities for his teammates.

Second, Doncic sticks to the "moneyball" approach in his individual attack. He and Harden are two of the best back-step 3-pointer shooters of the league. On the inside, Doncic manages to maintain his high efficiency via various floaters, not driving towards the rim at the risk of being blocked.

Thanks to the above features of his, Doncic is a better scorer than James and a better orchestrator than Harden and Antetokounmpo. He is already playing the game in one of the most efficient ways at the age of 20, meaning that he has more than enough time to adjust and improve continuously.

The NBA has never been a stranger to super young genius. Larry Bird became the leader of the Boston Celtics and won the NBA Championship in his second year; Derrick Rose became the youngest NBA MVP in history in his third season. Doncic is on his way.

Clippers afford to wait

The Los Angeles Clippers claimed an easy win of 134-109 over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Staples Center. Though Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joined hands together, they were not the biggest hero behind the team's win. In fact, Montrezl Harrell, who shot down 34 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, made the biggest contribution to the victory.

As a 2.01-meter-tall center, Harrell is not a stretch-four – his free-throw rate is only 63.5 percent this season. However, none of these kept him from turning the paint of the Pelicans into a free buffet. Thanks to his leaping ability and explosiveness, Harrell can keep working on the offensive glass; his strong body makes sure that he can force his way towards the rim; moreover, Harrell's soft touch and rich finishing methods enabled him to put the ball into the basket from different angles.

"Once he (Harrell)'s going downhill, once he is playing really aggressive and attacking the rim, he is virtually unstoppable with a guy of his size and the footspeed that he has. He had a monster night," said the Clippers' three-time Sixth-Man of the Year Lou Williams.

Clippers fans might not be happy to see that the team's dual stars, Leonard and George, still did not find their best chemistry. Leonard continued his playstyle either George was on the court or not. By contrast, George shot 16 3-pointers out of the total 20 attempts he had in the game, no wonder Tencent commentator Wang Zhaofeng said the Clippers made George play like Landry Shamet, an off-ball shooter.

This explained why coach Doc Rivers often put Leonard and George both on the court and on the bench at the same time. He wanted the two to figure out how to play together. Leonard is not an orchestrator who preys on the ball; George can and should carry a certain number of possessions because that's what he did last season as the No. 3 conservation of the NBA MVP.

Other games on Sunday included (home teams in bold):

Brooklyn Nets 103-101 New York Knicks

Sacramento Kings 113-106 Washington Wizards

Phoenix Suns 104-116 Denver Nuggets