Slovenian NBA superstar Luka Dončić scored 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks on 27 January, a personal best and the fourth-highest scoring performance in NBA history.

Riding on Dončić's performance, the Mavs won an away game against the Hawks 148:143. The 73 points he scored in nearly 45 minutes on the court toppled his personal best and the club's previous record of 60 points. He also scored a team-record of 41 points in the first half.

His latest scoring spree is tied for the fourth-highest in nearly 78 years of the NBA and beaten only by Wilt Chamberlain (100 and 78) and Kobe Bryant (81). It also tops the NBA scoring stats this season.

"Those names are special," the 24-year-old said after the game. "It's unbelievable."

The Slovenian contributed more than points to his team's victory, having notched up ten rebounds and seven assists. "It was just exciting. Sometimes I couldn't believe it."

His achievement came only four days after Philadelphia's centre Joel Embiid scored 70 points, then the most in the NBA this season.

Dončić is now only the tenth NBA player to have joined the elite list of at least 70 points in a game, and the fifth player so far to have bagged at least 70 points and ten rebounds in NBA history.

No one has scored as many points, rebounds and assists in an NBA game as he did on Friday, according to ESPN statistics.

He averages 33.6 points per game, and when Mavs coach Jason Kidd was asked about the game plan, he responded: "He is the game plan."