Luka Doncic shrugged off the raw emotion of his return to Dallas with a dazzling 45-point display against his former club as the Los Angeles Lakers downed the Dallas Mavericks 112-97 to punch their ticket to the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.
Doncic, who joined the Lakers as part of a trade with the Mavericks in February in one of the most shocking moves in NBA history, was given a rousing reception by the fans who packed into the American Airlines Center to pay tribute to their former hero.
A pregame video montage was screened in the arena just before Doncic was introduced to the sellout crowd of 20,841 fans, many wearing t-shirts bearing the words “Thanks for Everything,” written in the 26-year-old’s native Slovenian.
Doncic visibly teared up as he watched the tribute, and looked distraught as he was comforted by Lakers teammate LeBron James moments before tipoff.
After that emotional pregame ceremony, Doncic quickly snapped into game mode, swiftly getting into his scoring groove to give Mavericks fans a painful reminder of the generational talent that the club traded away.
Doncic scored 14 in the first quarter alone, and added 17 points in the second period to help the Lakers to a 60-57 halftime lead.
Doncic’s scoring slowed in the second half, leaving James to produce a trademark fourth-quarter burst to close out the victory.
But there was still time for Doncic to sign off in style, and he nailed an imperious 3-pointer to push the Lakers to a 108-94 lead shortly before exiting the game to a standing ovation.
The applause swiftly morphed into chants of “Fire Nico” — a reference to Dallas general manager Nico Harrison, who has been roundly criticized by Mavericks fans for engineering the trade that sent Doncic to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis.
Doncic’s 45 points included seven three-pointers from 16-of-28 shooting, while James finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Doncic later admitted that he struggled to maintain his composure during the ceremony before the game.
“I don’t know how I did it, because when I was watching that video I was like ‘There’s no way I’m playing this game,'” he told ESPN. “But all my teammates had my back and were really supporting me.
“There were so many emotions I can’t even explain. It brought tears to my eyes. I came here as a young kid, age 18, and they made me feel like it was home. Just a lot of great memories.
“I love these fans, I love this city, but it’s time to move on.”
The victory means the Lakers, who improved to 49-31, can clinch third seed in the Western Conference if they win one of their final two regular-season games.
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