Luka Doncic has started to look more at home with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he was in for an emotional night when the team hosted his former team the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Doncic was beloved in Dallas and reciprocated those feelings, so when the deal was announced it came as a massive shock to the basketball world at large. Doncic was easily going to end up the second-greatest Mavericks player in history behind Dirk Nowitzki, though now finds himself trying to lead the Lakers to a title going forward.
To no one’s surprise, the game between Los Angeles and Dallas was intense as both teams didn’t give up much of an inch. While the Lakers prevailed 107-99, the Mavericks proved they’ll be just fine without Doncic.
After the game, Doncic admitted it was weird to face off against Dallas.
“It’s so weird, the moments,” he said. “I don’t know what I was doing. I’m just glad we got the win.”
Doncic had a moment in the first quarter where he made back-to-back 3-pointers and was yelling towards the Mavericks bench, letting out some emotion after they called a timeout.
“I honestly can’t remember,” Doncic said of what was going through his mind at that point. “It was just a lot of emotions. Not much sleep. I can’t even explain. It was a different game. Like I said, sometimes I don’t know what I was doing. I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
Doncic added that he thinks getting this game behind him will allow him to move on from being dealt.
“Yeah, definitely. This game is over. Just a little bit, like you said, definitely going to help in the long process,” Doncic said.
At the end of the day though, he reiterated it will take some time before he gets the full closure he needs.
“I mean, the closure is going to take a while, I think,” he said. “It’s not ideal. But I say I’m glad this game is over. It was a lot of emotions, but we go little by little. Every day is better.”
Doncic did more than just fine against his old team as he recorded his first triple-double as a Laker. The star guard compiled 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to go along with three steals and two blocks.
While Doncic didn’t shoot very well from the field, he played hard on both ends of the floor and made plays when it mattered most. Despite all of the mixed emotions going up against the Mavericks, the 25-year-old found a way to play through them and lead the Lakers to a hard-earned win.
It’s likely that Doncic will require more time to completely process being traded, but getting this game over with is a huge step forward. The next hurdle will be how he handles returning to Dallas later in the regular season.
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