The American Airlines Center has hosted countless dominant performances from Luka Doncic, but the latest was quite different from previous ones.
Doncic returned to the Dallas Mavericks’ home floor for the first time since the larger-than-life February 2 trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers. The trade was such a groundbreaking event that it even has its own Wikipedia page and the calls to fire the Mavs’ general manager Nico Harrison have only continued to get louder.
Prior to the game, Dallas welcomed back the five-time NBA All-Star with a tribute video during the starting line-up introductions. A visibly teary-eyed Doncic looked on from the Lakers’ bench and even had to wipe off his tears with a towel before taking the floor.
It was not just any ordinary game for both sides and Doncic made this obvious from the get-go. He put up 31 points in the first half alone then scored seven consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to seal what wound up becoming a 112-97 win for Los Angeles.
The 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year was subbed out of the match with 1:34 left in the final period and was serenaded with a standing ovation from the Mavericks’ home crowd. The 26-year-old Doncic finished the game with 45 points, seven three-pointers, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals in 38 minutes.
Meanwhile, the two active players whom Dallas acquired for Doncic, Anthony Davis and Max Christie, combined for a mere 24 points.
The Mavericks fans at the American Airlines Center cheered on Doncic, who spent the first six and a half seasons of his NBA career in Dallas, everytime he touched the ball and they made it known that it will take some time before the wounds from this trade can heal.
The win marked the Lakers’ third in their last four games and pushed them closer to sealing the third seed in the Western Conference. On the other hand, the Mavericks continue to jockey for position in the play-in tournament and trail the ninth place Sacramento Kings by a full game in the race to host the ever prestigious nine-versus-ten winner-take-all play-in battle.
From the moment the trade was announced, it felt like the Lakers had pulled off a heist—and each passing game only makes that clearer. Doncic is a generational talent, the kind you build around for a decade, not deal away. Dallas had the privilege of watching him become a superstar. Now, it’s Los Angeles that gets to chase titles with him.
