A few weeks after the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, the five-time All-NBA player suited his first game against his former team. Doncic sent a message to the Dallas Mavericks after they traded him away for Anthony Davis, recording 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists. With that stat line, Doncic became only the third player in NBA history to have a triple-double against every team in the league. While Doncic was filling up the stat sheet, Davis was on the bench after being injured nearly three weeks ago in his first game on the Mavericks roster. The Lakers won 107-99, moving up one spot in the Western Conference standings.
In the days after the trade, it was easy to see that Doncic wasn’t happy with how the Mavericks front office handled the move. He was coming off leading the team to their first Finals appearance in over a decade and had just bought a new house in Dallas. In his introductory press conference with the Lakers, Doncic clarified that he hadn’t indicated to the Mavericks that he ever wanted to be traded. He explained how he felt blindsided by the whole situation and never expected the team to trade him away, especially in the way it all happened.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” Doncic said on how he was feeling before the Tuesday night game. “I can’t even explain (it). It was a different game. … Sometimes I don’t know what I was doing. And I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
Throughout the game, Doncic constantly looked over and stared at the Dallas bench after making plays and hitting shots. While he claimed he has no bitterness towards his former teammates, Doncic sent a message to Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who was the driving force behind the trade. Harrison was reportedly unhappy with the star’s work ethic and ability to stay in shape, and wanted to trade him away to ‘win now and in the future’. Doncic dropped down and hit a few push-ups in pregame warmups, an indirect shot at Harrison while he watched from across the court.
Lakers fans in the Crypto.com Arena could also be heard chanting ‘Thank you, Nico!’ multiple times during the game and after Doncic made big plays. Despite the emotions and storylines surrounding the game, Doncic looked comfortable on the court playing with his new team. He only made six of his 17 shots from the field, but his chemistry with LeBron James seemed as strong as ever. Both players complimented each other, making rugged passes and hitting difficult shots. Though it isn’t unusual for Doncic to put up a stat line similar to Tuesday night, he proved a point against the team that traded him away.
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“It’s probably a lot of things that were going on in his head that probably didn’t even involve the game itself,” James said about Doncic after the game.” And with that said, I thought he handled it tremendously.
James had 27 points and 12 rebounds, making 11 of his 17 shots. Though he is the oldest player in the NBA, playing with Doncic seemed to immediately rejuvenate the four-time Finals MVP and a Lakers team that has looked pretty solid lately.
Besides everything surrounding Doncic and his first game against the Mavericks, Davis was also a big night storyline despite being injured. It was his first return to Los Angeles, with the team playing a tribute video for him and fans giving him a standing ovation in the first quarter. Davis was a key part of the Lakers over the past few years, and his skill on both sides of the court was a significant factor in the team’s 2020 NBA championship. Even with the night seemingly dominated by Doncic, Davis was by no means just another player on the bench. Davis was injured in his first game with the Mavericks in a commanding performance through the first half of play, but he is expected to be out for at least the next few weeks.
Kyrie Irving also made sure that Doncic didn’t dominate the night, as he scored a game-high 35 points. Klay Thompson also had a great bounce-back game, scoring 22 points and grabbing a season-high eight rebounds. Irving and Thompson were the only Mavericks players who scored more than ten points, while the team shot a combined 35.7% from the floor. Dallas played the energized Lakers team tough and kept the game close all night. They only managed to lead the game one time by a point but made sure not to roll over in what ended up being a game ruled by the plot line of the team across the court. Dallas is still without Davis, Derrick Lively, and Daniel Gafford, all three of their big men who will be key for success in the postseason.
“We got a chance to feel like we were in practice all over again going at each other,” Irving said about being matched up against Doncic. “That was a good reflection point. And then just seeing the crowd cheer for him and just get him going … it was fun competing.”
Overall, watching the Lakers vs Mavericks game last night was weird. Doncic never seemed like he wanted to be traded away from Dallas, and the way it all went down looked like everything happened the wrong way. Doncic was, and still is, frustrated with how the Mavericks front office handled the whole situation, and he made it clear against his former team. Doncic is one of the best basketball players in the world, and it’s not too often that a team trades away a player of his caliber for any reason.
There is animosity between these two teams, and a new rivalry could be brewing. The Lakers have won eight of their last ten games, sitting fourth in the West with a 35-21 record. On the other hand, Dallas has only won five of their last ten games and sits ninth in the standings with a record of 31-28, still currently fighting for a top-six seed and a guaranteed spot in the upcoming playoffs. There is a chance that the two could match up in the playoffs, and if they do, expect more of the energy seen on Tuesday night. In the meantime, both teams are set to face off again in the regular season, and that meeting is coming on April 9th in Dallas.
With the whole NBA world discussing why the Mavericks made the move, Doncic still wonders the same thing. As he meant so much to the fans in Dallas, it was clear the city meant a lot to him. While he will still face the same emotions every time he plays his old team, the superstar said that it at least felt good to get this first meeting out of the way.
“The closure is going to take a while, I think,” Doncic said. “It’s not ideal. But like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. But we go little by little, and every day is better.”
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