Mavericks vs Lakers summary, stats, scores and highlights | Doncic vs. Mavs NBA
It's been a long last few weeks for Luka. This had to feel like the culmination of the saga, and he will be hoping to close the book on the chaos for a while. Or at least until the Lakers head to Dallas in late April. Until then, Luka says he needs to get some sleep.
And of course, after the game a couple of old buddies reconnect. Luka and Kyrie were teammates for about two years. They are two of the leagues biggest super stars, and were major parts of the Mavs run to the FInals last year. Now they will be battling it out against each other in attempts to get back to the title series.
After the Mavs tied the game up LeBron built a cushion for the Lakers in the final minute. The King finished the night with 27 and 12 rebounds and capped the game in Luka's special night. Doncic got the first laugh, but these teams are going to meet countless times over the next few years. Right now, it's Luka and the Lakers 1, Mavericks 0.
The Mavs threw everything they had at Luka. Double teams, blitzes, presses so that made him less of a scorer and more of a distributor. He finished the game with 19, 15 rebounds and 12 assist. This will go down as the first of many triple doubles to come in a Lakers jersey.
LeBron will get the credit for this bucket and highlight but this is all about the assist. Austin Reaves was the Lakers top scorer for a long portion of the game, but LeBron took over in the final 12 minutes.
The Lakers were up as many as 16 at the end of the first half, but the Mavs clawed back in the game and actually drew level in the 4th quarter. That was LeBron's cue to take over the game.
We talked about Luka doing a little bit of everything, and this is exactly what we are talking about. He almost had a triple double in the first half as he was clicking in every facet of the game, except maybe shooting. He only shot 6/17, but made up for it by doing everything else.
Luka wasn't the only one with a reunion on Monday. Anthony Davis, who was traded for Luka, came to LA despite being injured and the Lakers honored him with a video homage and a big ovation from the crowd at Crypto.com Arena.
We did say that Nico was in the crowd, and here's your proof. The Crypto.com Arena crowd started chanting "Thank You Nico" at one point in the game. I have a feeling they might be singing that for a long time in LA.
You just have to wonder if Luka was looking at anyone in particular after banging home this three pointer from long distance. Nico Harrison was in the crowd in LA, but I didn't see them exchanging pleasantries at any moment. If Luka acknowledged him, it probably was in this moment.
Kyrie Irving was trying his best to spoil the party in LA. Going up against his former running mate that helped get the Mavs to the Finals last year, he went wild scoring 14 in the first quarter and 35 by the end of the game.
So often these regular games with massive hype surrounding them don’t deliver. This wasn’t the case. In Luka’s revenge game against his former team both teams played like it was a playoff game. It was intense. It was physical and it was close until the end. Luka wasted no time getting on the board with this lay up, but he would do a little bit of everything on Tuesday night.
Luka Doncic got a taste of revenge in his first game as a Laker against his old team. The Dallas Mavericks came into town and all eyes were on Doncic from Crypto.com Arena. The Slovenian didn't disappoint, but before dropping a triple double on the Mavs, he had to dap up some of his own teammates.
Luka lobs it up to LeBron again, and he gathers and puts it up and in.
Doncic sends Kyrie to the line after the bucket and he hits the FT.
Timeout Mavs with 1:05 to go.
LeBron finds Hachimura down low and he seals this game with a lay up from underneath.
Hachirmura to the line and he hits one of two after the foul on Washington.
1:30 to go.
Luka missed the sort jumper in the lane and LeBron was there to smash it back!
Irving with the leaner off the glass.
Hacimura with the pick pocket at half court and he slams it home.
LeBron missed the floater but Finney-Smith was there with the tip slam.
Kyrie from the top of the key and he gets the friendly bounce off the front of the rim!
Luka with the lob from half court and LeBron makes the catch, gathers and lays it up.
Timeout Mavs with 4:05 to go.
Doncic down the left side of the lane and he lays it up ad in.
James to the line after the foul on Marshall and he hits one of two FTs.
Timeout Lakers with 5:30 to go in the fourth quarter.
Marshall in the corner and he ties the game with a three ball!
Luka kicks it out to LeBron and he sticks the three ball!
Thompson with another three ball off the offensive rebound and kick out from Marshall!
LeBron into the lane and he lobs it up for Hayes for the jam.
Thompson with a pump fake, and three ball for his second in a row!
LeBron with the leaner off the glass from outside the lane.
Thompson answers back with a three ball to quiet the crowd down.
Reaves with another lob and he finds LeBron for the lay up on the 3/4 court pass.
Reaves finds Hayes with the alley oop jam!
Thompson on the drive and he banks it in from underneath.
LeBron with the fader on the baseline to open up the quarrter.
WE ARE ATE THE END OF THE THIRD QUARTER!!!
It's a one point game heading into the final 12 minutes.
Exum got a LeBron elbow to the mouth on James' way up to the bucket and he came up bloodied and maybe missing a few teeth, but nothing more than a turnover was called.
Exum with a spot up in the lane and he gets the roll.
Mavs ball after the replay and Exum drills a three ball in the corner to cut it back to a three point game.
The Lakers are going to challenge an out of bounds call that went to DAL under the Mavs basket.
Luka kicks it out and finds Vanderbilt for the three ball in the corner!!!
Marshall dumps it off to Irving who lays it up in transition.
Doncic to the line after the foul on Prosper and he hits one of two FTs.
Dinwiddie with a fader from the mid range and he gets the foul! FT is good after the foul on Vincent.
Reaves drives down the lane and lays it up and in.
Reaves to the line after the foul on Edwards and he hits both FTs.
Dinwiddie pulls up from the perimeter and drills the three ball! It's a three point game and the Lakers need a timeout with 6:02 to go in the 3rd.
Kyrie drills the three ball from the top of the key!!!
Luka stops on a dime under the basket and lays it up and in.
Irving fading out of bounds and gets the baseline jumper.
LeBron with the rebound and he goes coast to coast for the finger roll.
Reaves to the line after the foul on Powell and he hits both FTs.
Irving to the line after the foul on Hayes and he hits both FTs.
Thompson for three in the corner and he's got a couple of quick ones after a rough first half.
Luka underneath and he uses the double pump for the transition lay up.
Thomposon with the three ball and he hits it over the defender.
Doncic into the corner for Hachimura who hits the corner three!
WE ARE BACK IN LA FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION!
Luka did a little bit of everything in that first half. He's got 12 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists including this sick flip behind his head to Austin Reaves who's got 14 points to lead the Lakers.
It's not all about Luka tonight. AD made his LA return and all though he isn't playing he got a well deserved ovation as the Lakers put up an homage video for their former big man.
Watch Luka drill this three off a broken play and stare the Mavs bench down. NIco Harrison is in the building and probably sitting around where Luka was sitting.
Kyrie came to play. He knew all the attention would be focused on Luka, but he set the tone for the Mavs with 14 first quarter points.
It didn't take Luka too long to get on the board. He went right at the rack with something to prove tonight against his own team.
Luka may have a bit of bad blood for the people in the front offices, but his former teammates got nothing but love and hugs before the game. You can tell he had a good relationship with these guys, and is happy to see them again. Although he didn't treat them to kindly in the first half from LA.
WE ARE AT THE HALFTIME BREAK HERE FROM CRYPTO.COM ARENA!!!
LA lead by as many as 16 late in the half, but Dallas came battling back. This one has been good so far.
Christie in the corner and he drills another three ball!!!
Spot up three ball from Christie from the wing and he's having a nice night against his old team.
Vincent drives baseline and he lays it up and in after LeBron cleared the space down low.
Irving pulls the trigger on a deep three ball and strings it!
The call is reversed as LeBron picks up the offensive foul after throwing a bow to Washington's face.
Washington sends LeBron to the line but DAL want to challenge that call with under 2:00 to go in the half.
James rattles home the mid range jumper from the wing.
Marshall to the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt called for a take foul so Kyrie hits the FT, and DAL get the ball back but Luka stuffs Kyrie's lay up attempt.
Doncic down low after running the break and he finds Vanderbilt with the jam down low.
Luka back to the line and he hits his remaining two FTs.
Luka to the line after getting fouled by Thompson on the three pointer, and he hits his first before DAL takes a timeout with 4:21 to go in the first half.
Doncic drives and flips it over his head to Reaves on the perimeter and he sticks the three ball!
Dinwiddie from the corner and he beats the buzzer from the corner!!
Luka to Vanderbilt in the corner and he string the three ball!
Reaves to the line after the foul on Edwards and he hits both FTs.
Washington finds Edwards wide open down low for the easy dunk.
Timeout LA with 6:32 to go in the first half.
Edwards to the iron off the feed from Iriving and he gets the lay up to go.
Reaves to the rack and he finger rolls it in.
Christie down the lane and he gets the roll on the floater.
Hachimura backs Chrisite down and spins to the bucket for the lay up.
Thompson to the line after the foul on Reaves and he hits one of two FTs.
Reaves turns and fires a pass down low to Knecht on the back door cut for the lay up.
Powell down low and he jams it in traffic.
LeBron up top and Hayes goes up and throws it down.
Marshall takes LeBron to the rim and lays it up on the right side.
Reaves finds Knecht in the corner and he responds with a triple off the dish from Reaves.
Exum in the corner and he drills it off the Thompson dish.
Reaves jacks a three ball and he drills it from the wing!!
Thompson into the lane and he hits the little leaner.
Watch Luka hit this three ball and look back at the Mavs bench. Not sure where Nico Harrison is but he's probably somewhere in the vacinity of that stare.
Luka might not be happy with this old front office, but he's got love for his old teammates still. Here he was before the game dapping up some Mavs players.
WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST QUATER HERE FROM LA!!!
Kyrie as 14 of the Mavs 20 while Luka has 9, 7 and 4 assists.
Goodwin to the line and he hits one of two FTs.
LeBron to the line after the foul on Wasington and he hits both FTs.
Timeout Lakers with 2:12 to go in the first quarter.
Irving down the lane and he drops the soft floater.
Doncic to the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Marshall.
Reaves sends Marshall to the line and he hits both FTs.
Reaves to the line and he hits one of two FTs after the foul on Washington.
Luka skips it over to Hachimura and he drills the corner three ball!
Irving banging down low and he clears some space for the lay up on the block.
Luka's three was taken off the board for being out of bounds, but he sets up Reaves for a triple try on the wing.
Scramble for a loose ball ends up in Luka's hands and he pulls the trigger from way downtown, drills it and turns to the Mavs bench and stares as they take a timeout.
Timeout with 5:47 to go in the 1st quarter.
Doncic jacks a three ball with the clock running down and he drills it in the face of two defenders to get this crowd on their feet!
Iriving strips Luka and pulls up from the top of the key from DT.
Irving with the step back over Luka and he drills it in his own teammates face!
Doncic's three from the corner hit off the side of the backboard, but he follows his miss, gets the rebound lays it up and gets the foul! FT is no good.
Kyrie going strong to the bucket and he lays it off softly with the left hand.
Defensive three second call on LA and Kyrie hits the FT.
Doncic goes up top and there's Hayes for the slam.
Doncic T'd up for jawing at the ref after a no call and Kyrie makes the tech FT, which is followed up by a Christie jumper from the FT line.
LeBron pulls up and sinks a three ball from the wing in transition!
Doncic opens his account with a lay up down the lane in traffic.
LeBron with the mid range jumper to get on the board for the first time.
Thompson gets an offensive board of a missed Washington three ball and he puts it back.
Hachimura opens up the scoring with a put back off a Luka missed three ball.
WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM CRYPTO.COM ARENA!!!
The exes reunite
There is sure to be bad blood in the building tonight and it's already palpable in pregame warm ups. Nico Harrison was spotted watching Luka Doncic warm up pregame. I'm very interested to see if those two even acknowledge each other at any point throughout the night.
Luka’s final fairwell to Texas
Air Jordan just dropped a subtle but powerful commercial with very convenient timing. The ad came out right before tonight’s game and it shows Luka changing the license plates from Texas to California on a maced out super car that is painted Lakers purple and gold. Our Jennifer Bubel has more.
Conspiracy theory behind trade?
There is a bit of a conspiracy going on around the Luka trade, and when you try to understand why the Mavs would trade the face of their future away I’m not going to say the conspiracy makes sense but it certainly would explain a lot. Apparently Mavs owner Miriam Adelson wants to build a mega complex of a sports stadium and casino that the Dallas lawmakers aren’t too keen on. So, why not sell Luka, make the team stink, have the fans turn on the team and move the franchise to Vegas where Adelson will surely be given the green light to make all of her dreams come true. Miriam’s late husband Sheldon Adelson was the head of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation that has a number of casinos and businesses on the strip already.
Fans still steaming in Dallas
The fans in Dallas are still fuming. I’m not sure how many of them are going to watch the game tonight. The wound is still open, and watching the game tonight is only going to rub salt on that wound. We have seen funerals, and protests and outpourings of depression and despair from the Mavs fans who lost not just the face of the franchise but one of the hearts and souls of the city. It’s going to be a long time until Dallas fans forgive their team for trading away their star, and if Luka goes crazy today that’s only going to prolong the forgiveness process.
Dallas, we have a problem
The Mavs are winning games, but there is a storm brewing in Dallas. The Luka trade brought an injury prone, aging star to American Airlines Center, and it didn’t take long for Anthony Davis to get hurt. He had a brilliant debut with the Mavs, putting up 26 and 16 rebounds but went down with a left adductor strain and will be out not just tonight, but for at least the next couple weeks. The Mavs got rid of Luka, because of his problems with fitness, but at least he was on the court for most of his career. Davis has a reputation for getting injured often, and missing games. It was a risky trade to make, and if Davis can’t stay healthy it might bring Dallas fans to a breaking point.
Star watch: Mavs
If the Mavs are going to succeed in the post Luka era, it’s going to fall all on the shoulders of Kyrie Irving. The vet who the Mavs brought in to be Luka’s sidekick a couple years ago has now been given the keys to the car, and Nico Harrison is hoping he can deliver so some of the Mavs fans can start to forgive him. Kyrie is averaging 24.7 points 4.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists, and has had four 30 point games this month as the Mavs have won five of their seven games over the last three and a half weeks. Iriving is going to need to continue to be clutch if the Mavs are going raise up the standings and avoid a Play-In scenario at the end of the season.
Star watch: Lakers
There is no one else we could highlight in the star watch portion of the preview. LeBron James is still the King of LA and the all-time leading scorer but tonight is all about Luka. Doncic looked the best he has looked since getting traded in the Lakers last game against the Nuggets. His 36 points were the most he had scored since early December and just four points off his season high. A calf strain forced him out for six weeks, and he missed a couple Lakers games soon after the trade, but it seems like he’s getting back to his best form as he and LeBron continue to build their understanding. In four games with the Lakers he is averaging 19, 7.5 and 5.8 assists, and those numbers are only going to increase as he gets healthier and more comfortable with his new team.
Last game: Mavs
The Mavs went to Golden State as Klay Thompson returned to the place he used to call home to play a team he won four championships with. He and the Mavs were on the wrong end of a Curry flurry from start to finish as Steph put up 30 points to lead the Warriors to a blow out win. Newest Warrior Jimmy Butler added another 18 points as Golden State built up a 29 point lead. Curry’s night ended with a bang, as he scored 8 straight points and gave the Mavs the “night, night”celebration before sitting out for the entire fourth quarter.
Last game: Lakers
Luka Doncic had his coming out party in the last Lakers game on Saturday night. Denver came into town on a nine game win streak and lighting up the scoreboard as one of the top scoring teams in the league. The Lakers were able to hold the Nuggets to just 100 points and they frustrated Nikola Jokic, who did register a triple-double but also committed six turnovers. The defense was remarkable, but the night was Luka’s. He came out swinging, scoring 16 points in the first quarter to set the tone in LA’s wire to wire win. He ended the night with 32, 10 and 7 assists while LeBron James chipped in another 25, 9 and 5 as the Lakers rolled to a 123-100 win.
We are live from Crypto.com
Hello everyone and welcome to LA where the eyes of the world will be locked on the Cyrpto.com Arena to see the first of many matchup between Luka Doncic and the Lakers against his old team the Dallas Mavericks. Luka was hurt by the team that drafted him and moved him from the city he called home. Tonight he gets his first crack at revenge against Nico Harrison’s, the Mavericks and all of those involved in trading the Slovenian earlier this month. The Mavs don’t just have to worry about Luka, but their own squad that has been decimated by injury over the last few weeks. They are still hanging tough thanks to some brilliant play from Kyrie Irving, but how long can they hang on, and how will they fair tonight against the super star they traded away only days ago.
Mavs vs. Lakers live
It was the trade that sent seismic shifts through the league and left NBA players and fans shocked. Luka Doncic was sent to Los Angeles after the Dallas Mavericks let the face of their franchise go over night. Luka was hurt. Dallas fans were furious, but the Lakers landed someone to take the torch from LeBron James once he calls it a career. For the first time since the trade, Luka and the Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks and AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s game from Crypto.com Arena.