LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Luka Doncic faced his old team the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since his shock move to the Los Angeles Lakers and served up a triple-double in a 107-99 win yesterday.
The five-time All-Star moved to the Lakers in exchange for big man Anthony Davis this month in a deal which stunned the NBA and left Mavs fans distraught.
Davis, who is injured, was present at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles and was given a tribute from the Lakers during the first timeout.
The watching Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who has been a target of Dallas fans’ anger since the move, was also given a warm welcome by Lakers fans who chanted “Thank you Nico” during Doncic’s free throws.
Doncic put up 19 points on 6-17 shooting but grabbed 15 rebounds and made 12 assists on what he conceded was a strange night against his former team-mates.
“I don’t know how to explain it, I think in the first quarter, second quarter, I didn’t know what was happening. It was just different, I can’t even explain how I felt,” he told broadcaster TNT.
Doncic admitted that despite his key role, his shooting was off in a game where the Lakers needed a big fourth quarter from LeBron James to secure the win.
“I couldn’t make nothing today, I am just glad we got a win. I can’t wait to go to sleep honestly,” said the Slovenian, who made a key assist to James to make sure of the win.
James had 27 points with 16 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
The short-handed Mavericks put up a strong fight however with Kyrie Irving outstanding as he made 35 points with seven rebounds and four assists. Klay Thompson put up 22 points for Dallas.
The front-running Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to eight games with a 122-82 thrashing of the Orlando Magic.
Ty Jerome top-scored off the bench for Cleveland making 20 points in 21 minutes while Max Strus nailed five three-pointers as he put up 17 points.
The blowout win moves the Cavs to a league-best 48-10 record on the season, despite Donovan Mitchell being restricted to just 11 points.
“We move it quickly, we move it quickly up the floor in transition, make quick decisions, everyone touches it – it is a fun style of play,” said Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson.
“It creates a lot of open looks and our skill level is super high, you have to have high skill level to play that way,” he added.
The Boston Celtics, a place behind Cleveland in the East, took their own winning streak to six games with a 111-101 victory at the Toronto Raptors.
Jaylen Brown scored 24 points with Derrick White adding 22, while Payton Prichard had 20 points and Jayson Tatum put up 19 points and provided 11 assists for the Celtics.
