Luka Doncic stars in emotional return to Dallas as Lakers defeat Mavericks

Luka Doncic returned to Dallas as a Los Angeles Laker to face his former team, the Mavericks. The match, played at the American Airlines Center, ended in a 112-97 Lakers victory but was overshadowed by the highly publicized trade that sent Doncic to Los Angeles nine weeks prior.

Doncic’s return was marked by a tribute video played by the Mavericks during starting lineup introductions with the player visibly emotional on the Lakers bench. The game saw fans chanting and targeting Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison on one hand and supporting Doncic on the other.

“Fire Nico” chants rang down during every stoppage.

Doncic was clearly the star as fans cheered him every time he had the ball. Doncic, too, repaid their faith , dominating the game, scoring 31 points in the first half and 14 in the first quarter. He scored 45 points in total.

Doncic hit three contested three-pointers in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he promptly scored back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 40.

The Mavericks showed grit in the first half even with Doncic's performance by trailing the team 60-57. Anthony Davis, of the Lakers, had only four points at halftime. The Lakers built a 13-point lead in the third quarter , before the Mavericks rallied to close the gap. The final score was 112-97 in favour of the Lakers.

The Mavericks came out strong in the fourth quarter and grabbed the lead early. The Lakers responded with a 9-0 run after a brief timeout, bringing the Lakers advantage to seven ahead of Dallas.

While LeBron James took over down the stretch, Doncic put the finishing touches on his masterpiece.

LeBron James also created history in the Mavericks vs Lakers game, by surpassing Kareem Abdul Jabbar on the all-time games played list in NBA.

LeBron played his 1,561st regular-season game, only behind Robert Parish, who played in 1,611 games.

James had a standout performance in the game scoring 27 points in 36 minutes. He also contributed with seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.

After scoring his 45th point, Luka exited the game to raucous cheers from the AAC crowd.

A moment intended to read as an expression of gratitude and appreciation felt cruel to Doncic and the fans, forcing both parties to remember that this didn’t have to happen.

Asking Doncic to go through this emotional roller coaster on national television right before playing an NBA basketball game is just the latest gut punch the organization has dealt his way in the past nine weeks.