Like last time, the ovation was loud and long. But this time there were no Luka Doncic tears.
As he predicted, Doncic’s second game back in American Airlines Center proved less emotional than his first, but nonetheless his 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and late-game defense propelled the Lakers to Saturday night’s 116-110 comeback victory over the Mavericks.
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One week before the first anniversary of his still-shocking Feb. 1, 2025 trade from Dallas, Doncic improved his personal record against his former team to 4-0.
Mavericks
When he returned to AAC last April 9, in the final week of the regular season, he wept during the pregame tribute video and then poured in 45 points in a 15-point Lakers win.
“Oh, there’s still emotions, trust me, but a little bit better, a little bit easier for me,” he said Saturday. “How the fans accept me here, it’s unbelievable. I’ve still got a lot of friends here, players and some other people, so I’m happy to be back a little bit.”
After the Lakers arrived Friday in soon-to-be-icy Dallas, Doncic went to the home he’s maintained here and posted on Instagram a photo of one of his sports cars in the garage.
Speaking of old homes, he played 6.5 seasons of home games in American Airlines Center, which explains a humorous moment at the end of Saturday’s first half.
Doncic tossed an alley-oop pass that Deandre Ayton failed to grab and extend the Lakers’ 65-52 lead before the buzzer. Doncic momentarily started toward the tunnel toward the Mavericks’ locker room, then caught himself and turned toward the Lakers’ tunnel.
“I didn’t see that,” Doncic said, smiling sheepishly.
The Mavericks roared back in the second half, outscoring the Lakers 35-14 in the third quarter. But with Dallas leading 102-87 with 6:45 left in the game, AAC fans – many of them wearing No. 77 Mavericks and Lakers jerseys – witnessed a vintage Doncic finish.
Lakers coach J.J. Redick called it an “A-plus” Doncic game – on both ends of the court.
“He had six straight stops when they targeted him,” Redick noted, singling out the game-sealing charge Doncic took from Mavericks forward Naji Marshall.
Offensively, Redick said, Doncic, “just picked apart their defense down the stretch.”
Despite icy conditions that kept most North Texans off roadways, the arena was about 90% full at tip-off.
Doncic, the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year, was about to face off against the Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg, this season’s Rookie of the Year co-favorite with Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel.
Doncic and Flagg both got loud ovations during pregame introductions. The roar for Flagg seemed slightly louder, but the one for Doncic seemed to last longer, drowning out introductions of the next two Lakers starters.
“I didn’t know what to expect because I know how the city gets when the weather is this bad,” Doncic said. “But I really appreciate a lot of people coming out.”
Sitting in one suite in AAC’s corner above the Mavericks’ bench, courtesy of Doncic, were 22 fans that Doncic selected as having been especially kind to him.
“I see what a lot of them did on social media . . when I got traded, you know how much support they gave me,” he said. “Obviously, there’s a lot more fans than that, but I could only pay for 22.”
Obviously his salary could have handled more, but what he meant to say is the suite only accommodates 22 people.
Having experienced last season’s welcome back for Doncic, the Lakers were braced for extra emotion from the fans, as well as from the Mavericks in trying to beat Doncic.
“The significance of this probably will be there for the rest of his career,” Redick said. “This is where it started for him. It’s where he made his first Finals appearance; where he was drafted. So the significance for our team is there, and it certainly is there for him.”
Doncic’s Lakers co-star, LeBron James, knows all about the emotions of facing former teams, having played for four of them – including Cleveland twice.
“I think the most important thing is, just like his comfort, obviously, when you get traded midseason and he spent his first seven or eight years here, obviously was a shock to everybody,” James said.
“Everybody that was involved, everybody that wasn’t involved in the sports world, but obviously him and the guys that was involved in the trade. I think the biggest thing this year, he’s just more comfortable, understanding the system, understanding the city, the embracing him.
“You know this is his team. So we’re all rallying around him.”
Late in the fourth quarter, when Doncic twice went to the free-throw line, fans behind the basket held up signs that spelled out: COME HOME.
If Doncic saw the sign, he didn’t react. But he made 14-of-15 free throws on the night, so perhaps he was extra-inspired, after all.
“It’s always a special place,” he said. “I always want to win no matter what, but obviously this one’s a little bit different.”
Welcome back, Luka: See photos from Doncic’s latest return to Dallas for Mavericks-Lakers showdown
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