DALLAS — Even with postseason implications on the line, it’s been clear for more than two months what Wednesday night was going to be about: Luka Doncic making his return to Dallas to face the Mavericks for his first time as a visiting player since being traded to the Lakers.
The white t-shirts on every seat inside the American Airlines Center, which read “Hvala za vse” – the Slovenian phrase for “Thank you for everything,” made this evident.
The pregame festivities, including an emotional tribute video that forced Doncic to hold back tears, made it clear that Wednesday was about more than just the game being played on the court.
But once the game tipped off, and Doncic was able to get settled in for his first game in Dallas since Dec. 25, a scene that Mavericks fans became accustomed to watching from Doncic for 6½ seasons played out – but this time, he was doing it as an opponent.
Doncic finished with a season-high-tying 45 points to go with eight rebounds, six assists and four steals against his former team. He shot 16 for 28 from the field, including 7 for 10 from 3-point range.
He wasted no time getting started and knocked down stepback jumper after stepback jumper over any Mavericks defender who switched onto him, making a trio of 3-pointers en route to 14 first-quarter points.
Doncic got into the paint nearly at will, leading to him scoring more than half of the Lakers’ points in the first half of his return to Dallas, recording 31 points (11-of-16 shooting, 6 for 8 from 3-point range) to go with three assists and three rebounds.
But when he started to go cold, the Lakers reinforced what Coach JJ Redick said pregame: they’d have his back.
And when it came to closing time, Doncic delivered, scoring seven points late en route to a 112-97 Lakers victory that clinched at least a top-six seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket.
It marked the first time since the 2019-20 season, when the Lakers won the NBA championship, that they’ve clinched a playoff spot without having to go through the Play-In Tournament.
LeBron James finished with 27 points and seven rebounds.
He scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the fourth, helping the Lakers come back from being down after a Klay Thompson 3-pointer put the Mavericks up 87-85 with nine minutes left after the Lakers led by as many as 13 in the third before a 15-2 Dallas run.
Anthony Davis, who went to the Mavericks as part of the seismic trade that brought Doncic to the Lakers, finished with 13 points (5-of-13 shooting), 11 rebounds and six assists in his first game against his former team.
This isn’t the first time Doncic played the Mavericks. He had a triple-double (19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists) in the Lakers’ 107-99 home win on Feb. 25, only 23 days after the trade.
Davis didn’t play in the Feb. 25 matchup, sitting out with an injury.
More to come on this story.
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