Lakers’ Luka Doncic relieved first game vs. Mavs is behind him
LOS ANGELES — After Luka Doncic led the Lakers to a 107-99 win over his former team Tuesday — becoming only the third player to record a triple-double against every NBA franchise in the process — the star guard’s tone during his postgame news conference wasn’t triumphant.
No, Doncic sounded more relieved than anything.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” he said of the game coming only 3½ weeks after he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers. “I can’t even explain [it]. It was a different game. … Sometimes I don’t know what I was doing.
“And I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
Doncic, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to join teammate LeBron James and Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook as the only players to put up a triple-double against all 30 teams, didn’t dominate Dallas. He shot 6-for-17 from the field (1-for-7 from 3), and it was James who scored 16 of his 27 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
But Doncic got through a night that had been looming since Dallas traded him, an emotional hurdle as he processed being around not only his former teammates, with whom he has maintained friendships, but also the Mavericks’ brass in general manager Nico Harrison and coach Jason Kidd.
“It definitely will help me,” Doncic said of putting the game behind him. “It’s definitely going to help in the long [run].”
Harrison stood on the sideline at midcourt during pregame warmups, although Doncic said he didn’t notice him.
He certainly saw the Mavericks’ bench, directing several shouts and stare-downs after making plays for his new team.
“Obviously there’s a lot of emotion that goes in when you give so much to a franchise and you sacrifice for a franchise and you have that type of love and respect for a franchise — throughout all the journeys,” James said of Doncic. “They went to the Finals, all that stuff. He’s grown from being an 18-, 19-year-old kid to now a 25-year-old man with a family. … And when you move on or they move on from you, it’s very emotional, obviously. It’s very taxing.
“It’s probably a lot of things that were going on in his head that probably didn’t even involve the game itself. And with that said, I thought he handled it tremendously.”
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, who led all scorers with 35 points, said the matchup was “awkward as s—” after facing off against the same player he teamed with to take Dallas to the Finals last season.
“But,” Irving added, “at the same time, it was fun. We got a chance to feel like we were in practice all over again going at each other. That was a good reflection point. And then just seeing the crowd cheer for him and just get him going … it was fun competing.”
Doncic called Irving his “hermano” and said their relationship goes “way beyond basketball.”
The teams will play again in Dallas on April 9. Returning to his former home will bring different challenges for Doncic, emotional and otherwise. The Mavericks are hoping Anthony Davis, sent from Los Angeles to Dallas in the deal, will have recovered from the left adductor strain he sustained after the trade and can play.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said there was no use avoiding the circumstances the schedule presents. As strange as Tuesday was for Doncic, the Lakers players had to deal with the conflicting emotions of seeing Davis back in the building and receiving a standing ovation in the first quarter when Los Angeles played a tribute video for him and then striving to send him away with a loss. The same went for having to match up with Max Christie, also part of the trade. He had 10 points and six assists for Dallas and played with the same effort and athleticism that used to be on the Lakers’ side.
“You kind of just got to embrace it,” Redick said. “It’s just a little weird. It just naturally is. … It’s healthy, actually, just to acknowledge it and embrace it. And then you play the game, and then you never have to do that again.”
Or at least the next time Doncic and the Lakers must play the Mavericks, they will have had more time to establish a new normal.
“The closure is going to take a while, I think,” Doncic said. “It’s not ideal. But like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. But we go little by little, and every day is better.”
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.
Stephen Curry went off for a season-high 56 points in a 121-115 win against the Orlando Magic Thursday night, but it shouldn’t have come as a surprise if you checked the date.
Feb. 27 is a significant day for the Golden State Warriors star. Curry has scored at least 45 points on this date three times, making him the third player in NBA history to do so on a single calendar day, according to ESPN Research.
The other two players are Elgin Baylor (Feb. 25) and Wilt Chamberlain, who had at least three 45-point games on 16 different calendar days.
The first of the three special games for Curry on this date came in 2013, when he recorded 54 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. It marked the first 50-point game of Curry’s career.
“I felt good all night. Obviously played the whole game, so was just trying to keep my legs underneath me on the offensive end, and you know, just stick to the game on the defensive end,” Curry said at the time. “Once I started seeing that 3-ball go down in transition, all sorts of spots on the floor, I knew it was going to be a good night.”
The second game featured arguably the most famous shot of Curry’s career: a go-ahead 37-foot 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 0.6 seconds left in overtime. The Warriors celebrated that anniversary with a post earlier on Thursday.
The deep 3 capped off a 46-point outing with 12 3-pointers in the midst of Golden State’s 73-9 season in 2015-16.
Curry matched that effort in terms of 3-point field goals made as he netted 12 against the Magic, the most by any player in a game this season. It also marked his third career game with 12 3-pointers, tied with former teammate Klay Thompson for the most of all time.
The Warriors play the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC).
ESPN
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A massive number of NBA fans tuned in to watch Luka Dončić’s first matchup against his former team on Tuesday night.
About 2.5 million viewers watched Dončić and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 107-99 at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, TNT announced on Wednesday afternoon. That made it the most-watched regular-season game on the network so far this season outside of opening night. It was also the most-watched regular-season game streamed on Max. The game peaked at about 2.9 million viewers.
By comparison, the NBA Finals on ABC averaged about 11.3 million viewers last summer. The NBA’s Christmas Day slate this season on ABC/ESPN averaged 5.25 million viewers per game.
It’s no surprise so many people wanted to watch Tuesday night’s game in Los Angeles, considering the trade that went down just a few weeks prior. The Mavericks stunned the NBA world by dealing Dončić in a deal for Anthony Davis, which reportedly left Dončić furious. He stared down the Mavericks’ bench after making his one and only 3-pointer on Tuesday, and fans at one point broke out in a huge, “Thank you, Nico!” chant at Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison.
Dončić finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in the Lakers’ third consecutive win.
“The closure is going to take awhile, I think,” Dončić said. “I don’t know, it’s just not ideal. Like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. It will go, little by little. Every day is better.”
Dončić’s first return trip to Dallas is set for April 9. Regardless of what happens between now and then throughout the league, Mavericks fans — who have been livid at Harrison for even making the deal in the first place — are sure to show out. Big ratings for that game, based on Tuesday’s numbers, will almost certainly follow suit.
Dončić and the Lakers beat the Mavericks 107-99 on Tuesday night in Los Angeles
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