Luka Dončić drops his first triple-double as a Laker in first game facing Mavericks since trade

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Luka Dončić reunited with the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, and showed them exactly what they gave up when they executed the most shocking trade in NBA history.

The Slovenian superstar recorded his first triple-double as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in a 107-99 win against his old team. He finished with 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting, 15 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks.

LeBron James and Austin Reaves weren’t shabby either, each recording at least 20 points, but it was Dončić’s night, as so many anticipated from a player reported to be furious about getting traded in the dead of night.

Dončić came out of the gate clearly gunning to humiliate his old team. He stared down their bench after making one of his first 3-pointers and showed up everywhere when he was on the court. That included one of the best assists of the season, when he whipped the ball behind his head for a no-look pass to Austin Reaves.

The Crypto.com Arena crowd joined in, directing “Thank you, Nico” chants at Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who was in the building, multiple times. To their credit, the Mavericks shook off the early onslaught and had the game close again by midway through the third quarter.

They made the Lakers uncomfortable on defense, until a final run pushed L.A. up multiple scores with two minutes to go. After a slow first half, James started making the plays that make you forget he’s 40 years old. And that’s why quite a few people thought allowing him to join forces with Dončić was a mistake.

Afterward, Dončić admitted that facing his former team wasn’t easy.

Luka Doncic on playing his former team for the first time tonight: “Sometimes I didn’t know what I was doing [out there] … I am just glad it’s over.”

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 26, 2025

As eventful as Tuesday’s game was, it was just the preface to what will be the big event: Dončić’s return to Dallas on April 9. That will be required watching for any fan of the NBA. And, you know, drama.

Here’s how it all went down at Yahoo Sports:

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER76 updates

Wed, February 26, 2025 at 6:34 AM GMT+1

Lakers played 24…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/live/luka-doncic-drops-his-first-triple-double-as-a-laker-in-first-game-facing-mavericks-since-trade-020048295.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-26 02:00:00

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