Wednesday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks was one of the most highly anticipated regular season matchups in a while with Luka Doncic making his return to American Airlines Center for the first time since the trade.
Emotions were understandably high and the Mavericks had multiple tributes for Doncic, although it was the Lakers that ultimately came out on top with a 112-97 victory. With the win, the Lakers have clinched a postseason berth and are now just one win away from clinching the No. 3 seed in the West.
Once the game started, Doncic quickly wiped away the tears and made his first shot. Dallas got off top a hot start though, jumping out to a 10-5 lead.
This also marked Anthony Davis’ first game against his former team, and he had a dunk, but Doncic responded with a triple. The Slovenian star had 14 points in the first, but the Lakers still trailed 30-26 after back-to-back turnovers to end the quarter.
Jarred Vanderbilt has been doing all of the little things for the Lakers and that continued at the start of the second with an offensive rebound, assist, dunk and steal. Doncic then had back-to-back layups to tie it at 40.
It was all Doncic in the first half as he hit six triples and went into the break with 31 points. The Lakers were harmed by their turnovers though as the Mavericks hung tough and went into the break with a slim 60-57 deficit.
The Lakers were locked in on both ends to start the third quarter with LeBron James and Rui Hachimura getting going offensively to extend the lead to double digits.
After a quiet first half, Davis already started to heat up offensively to keep things close. Doncic helped end a long Lakers drought with a layup, but the advantage was down to 83-76 going into the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks were using their size to their advantage early in the fourth with Davis and Daniel Gafford scoring inside. Klay Thompson then hit a triple after a Lakers turnover to give Dallas the lead.
A timeout helped restore order for the Lakers, who responded with nine straight points, including five from James and four from Hachimura.
James began to take over from there, driving to the basket and finish through traffic multiple times. He got the lead back to double digits, and the Lakers didn’t look back from there.
Doncic definitely showed out in his return to Dallas and left to a standing ovation, finishing with 45 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals on 16-of-28 shooting.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will wrap up their regular season at home against the Houston Rockets on Friday and then on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
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