Los Angeles Lakers vs Dallas Mavericks recap: Luka Doncic racks up triple-double in win versus former team

Luka Doncic will deny he was out for revenge, but you know this had to feel good.

The Lakers took charge in the final minutes and won 107-99. Doncic had a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 27 points, adding 15 rebounds, and Austin Reaves scored 20.

Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 35, and Dallas made its push when Klay Thompson got hot in the fourth quarter, finishing with 22. However, in the end, Dallas couldn’t match the Lakers’ physicality and needed more shot creation.

The kind of things Luka brought to the Mavericks.

The Lakers found their formula: Attack their former teammate Max Christie knowing the banged-up Mavericks — without Anthony Davis or their other two main centers — don’t have a back line to help.

Second, pressure the ball and wear down the Mavericks.

The result was the Lakers pushing their lead out to 105-96 with 1:05 left in the game. The Lakers just got physical and Dallas could not match it.

Luka Doncic has reminded Mavericks fans what they’re missing. As if they weren’t hurting enough.

Doncic has racked up a triple-double against his former team with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. It’s fitting that he got his triple-double on an assist to LeBron (to you young players at home, don’t help one pass away, especially if you’re helping off LeBron).

The Lakers and Mavericks are tied 91-91 heading into the final 5:30, and the reason is that Klay Thompson got red-hot.

Thompson is up to 22 points on the night.

After a rough shooting first half, the Mavericks have found their shooting touch, and we have a game.

It is 78-77 Lakers after three quarters.

Dante Exum has gone back to the Mavericks locker room after a mid-air collision with LeBron James.

LeBron was driving the lane late in the third quarter, and Exum came over to contest his shot. They collided mid-air, and Exum went flying backward, landing along the baseline. He stayed down, and the referees called time out. (The officials reviewed the play for a possible hostile act by LeBron, leading with his knee, but after review said it was a normal basketball move and there was no foul).

Exum eventually got up and walked back to the Dallas locker room, walking under his own power.

Exum had played well off the bench for Dallas, with eight points.

The Lakers lead 78-72 with 2:26 left in the fourth quarter.

Luka Doncic is one assist shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists.

Kyrie Irving has been a force and leads all scorers with 27.

It has been a back-and-forth third quarter, or it was until just before the six-minute mark Kyrie Irving hit a pull-up 3-pointer over Austin Reaves

Then, after a Lakers miss, Spencer Dinwiddie hit a pull-up 3 in transition.

The Lakers lead is down to three, 70-67, with 6:02 left in the third quarter.

After a cold shooting first half, Dallas is 4-of-6 from beyond the arc so far this quarter.

We’ve been saying how rough Dallas’ shooting was in the first half, but Law Murray from The Athletic provided some context.

Not great, Bob.

The Lakers were in control of the first half and had a comfortable double-digit lead heading into halftime — and then their former player Max Christie happened.

Christie, who came to Dallas in the Luka trade, knocked down two 3-pointers in the final minute to cut the Lakers lead to 59-51 at the half. He also had a block on Doncic 30 seconds earlier.

Austin Reaves leads all Lakers with 14 points, while Doncic has 12 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, looking like he is on his way to a triple-double. LeBron has 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving leads all scorers with 18, but the Mavericks shot just 34.6% as a team in the first half.

Mavericks GM Nico Harrison is in the building, and this can’t be fun for him.

Prior to tip-off, there were Mavericks fans who recognized him and yelled expletives his way. Once the game started, Lakers fans started chanting “Thank you Nico! Thank you Nico!”

Then he has to watch Doncic do this.

There is no bigger star watching the Lakers’ game tonight. Literally.

Hall of Famer and Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in town to watch Luka Doncic’s revenge game.

Dallas has found its footing and hit a couple of shots, but hasn’t really made up much ground on the Lakers.

Los Angeles leads 42-36 with 6:32 left in the first half. One thing that has helped keep the Mavericks around is the Lakers have six turnovers, twice as many as Dallas.

Austin Reaves has nine points, equaling Doncic for the most on the Lakers. Irving still leads Dallas with 14.

Despite all the focus on Luka Doncic and the Lakers’ offense, it’s their defense — and the Mavericks missing open looks — that tells the story of the first quarter.

The Lakers lead 28-20 after one quarter. The Mavericks shot 7-of-29, 24.1%, in the first quarter, including just 2-of-11 (18.2%) from 3, and that’s despite Kyrie Irving scoring 14 on 5-of-11 shooting.

Doncic has nine points and seven rebounds to lead the Lakers, while LeBron has added 7 points.

Kyrie Irving is having a night against his former teammate, LeBron James.

Irving has 14 first-quarter points and has kept the Mavericks in this game. The Lakers still lead 25-20 with 2:12 left in the first quarter. Luka leads the Lakers with nine points, seven rebounds and has even picked up a technical — he is into it.

Anthony Davis was the price the Lakers had to pay to give up to get Luka Doncic, but he is still loved in the city. Here is the tribute video the Lakers made for him and the reaction inside the Lakers’ arena.

Scroll down a little and you can see Luka Doncic warming up pregame going through some half-speed drives.

His first bucket against his old team came on a full-speed driving layup.

The Lakers led 16-4 early, with Doncic scoring 7 and LeBron 5 for Los Angeles, but Kyrie Irving had 10, including a couple of 3s for Dallas.

The fans have fully embraced Luka Doncic in Los Angeles.

The Lakers come into the most anticipated game in Crypto.com Arena in a long time red hot.

The Lakers have the best record in the NBA since Jan. 15 (14-4) and the fourth-best record since Christmas Day (18-8).

Since Christmas Day, Austin Reaves has had one of the best stretches of his career, averaging 21.3 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 39% from 3.

LeBron is averaging 29.1 points and nine rebounds over the last six games.

Peep the new license plate!

Anthony Davis will not play against his former team on Tuesday night, he remains out with an adductor strain (the medical term for a groin strain). However, he is in the building, got some shots up pregame, and will be on the Mavericks bench when things tip off in Los Angeles.

The Lakers plan to honor their former champion with a video tribute, reports Chris Haynes.

Davis will be re-evaluated next week, and coach Jason Kidd said he is making “good progress” in his recovery, but there is no timeline for his return from what can be a tricky injury to let heal. Davis suffered the injury in his first game as a Maverick, one where he looked dominant with 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in 31 minutes.

Here’s the view inside Crypto.com Arena as Luka Doncic warmed up before his first game against his former team, a few half-speed drives to the basket.

Still can’t believe it’s real - here’s how the full trade went down that sent Luka Doncic to La La Land.

This game sets up for a Lakers’ blowout: They are red-hot coming in (14-4 in their last 18), Doncic is motivated (and the rest of the team has got his back), and Dallas is banged up and without any of its top three centers (Anthony Davis, Derreck Lively II and Daniel Gafford are all out).

The oddsmakers agree and have made the Lakers 8-point favorites and -285 on the money line (Dallas is +231). The under/over is set at 228.

That said, this kind of game can swing the other way — Doncic struggles a little in the spotlight, Kyrie Irving gets hot, and things get interesting.

When thinking about a best bet, NBC Sports Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas) went to the prop market and is leaning towards Luka Doncic over 3.5 Turnovers

Thomas: “Luka Doncic has been working his way back to full fitness, and his utilization has gone up each game with the Lakers. It’s impossible to know how Doncic is feeling, but you’d have to imagine he will be more aggressive and want the ball more in this game. He’s averaging 3.4 turnovers per game but already has two games with five or more turnovers with the Lakers. His aggression could lead to errors and turnovers.”

What do you think of the kicks for tonight?

Here’s Lakers coach J.J. Redick — a former brief teammate of Doncic — talking about going from being Luka’s friend to his coach.

Need something to do before tip-off? Here’s a 50-minute highlight reel from Luka’s seven seasons with the Mavericks!

“That’s my brother... just to remind him there’s a genuine love there. I consider him part of my family, part of my tribe”

What are the biggest revenge games in NBA history — the first game of a traded player against his former team? Here’s a short list:

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: On Oct. 28, 1975, Abdul-Jabbar faced the Bucks for the first time since they traded him to the Lakers (to be fair, Abdul-Jabbar pushed for that trade, it didn’t come out of nowhere). Abdul-Jabbar had 30 points, 20 rebounds, nine blocks and five assists in Los Angeles’ 99-92 victory – only one other player in NBA history has reached those numbers in a game.

• Dominique Wilkins: On March 25, 1994, in Atlanta, Wilkins faced the Hawks for the first time since they traded him to the Clippers. Wilkins posted 36 points and 10 rebounds in LA’s 97-94 victory.

• Charles Barkley: On Nov. 2, 1996, Barkley went to Phoenix to face the Suns for the first time since they traded him to the Rockets during the offseason. Barkley scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 33 rebounds in Houston’s 110-95 victory.

• Allen Iverson: On Jan. 2, 2007, Philadelphia came to Denver for the first time since the Sixers traded AI to the Nuggets. Iverson scored 30 points, with nine assists and five rebounds, but the 76ers got the 108-97 win.

• Karl-Anthony Towns: On Dec. 19 of this season, KAT returned to Minnesota for the first time since it traded him to New York just as training camps were set to open. This wasn’t revenge in the classic sense, Towns soaked in the love from Timberwolves fans — like Doncic, he did not ask for or expect this trade — and responded with 32 points, 20 rebounds and six assists in New York’s 133-107 victory.

🤷‍♂️
Everyone around the league — from Mavericks fans to other front offices — is still trying to answer that question. Nobody can get their heads around Dallas’ decision. Nobody trades a 25-year-old top-five player in the world who took your team to the NBA Finals the season before.

Why would you? For Dallas, it came down to two things: Mavs GM Nico Harrison had serious concerns about Doncic’s conditioning and commitment to doing what it took to win. Second, and building on that concern, was Doncic’s looming contract extension that would have been the largest in NBA history (five years, $346 million). As some league sources explained it to NBC Sports, Luka wasn’t Nico’s guy, he believes we have seen peak Luka, and ownership was good with not writing that massive check.

Nobody else saw it that way.

“If you can go in an NBA game and get 30, 15, and 10, then I don’t know what shape is,” said Markeiff Morris, who was traded to the Lakers in the Doncic deal, talking about Doncic’s fitness.

People in other front offices saw that massive contract as the going rate for having one of the best players in the world. Those same front office people remain angry that Harrison only talked to the Lakers — Harrison was focused on Anthony Davis — and did not open up the bidding to others. They feel he could have gotten more, both from the Lakers and other teams (the Nets got five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges last summer).

Adding to the confusion, Dallas got older with the trade — Anthony Davis is an All-NBA big man but is 31 and has an injury history. That history has already bitten the Mavericks, with AD out due to an adductor strain.

The trade thrust All-Star Kyrie Irving into the spotlight as the offense’s focal point, and he has responded, scoring 30 points in four of the seven games he has played since the trade. Max Christie, who came over to Dallas in the trade, is averaging 15.3 points and 4.9 rebounds a game in Dallas.

Coming off a calf injury that had him out from Christmas Day through early February, Doncic’s first couple of games in a Lakers jersey were not up to his standards. He looked rusty, a step slow, and like a guy trying to regain his game fitness after a long layoff.

Saturday we saw vintage Doncic. He scored 16 points in the first quarter and went on to have 32 for the night, 10 rebounds and seven assists, leading the Lakers to their biggest win of the season, knocking off the Nuggets in Denver, 123-100.

If that Doncic shows up Tuesday night, the Mavericks are in serious trouble.