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 on Tuesday — becoming just 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 just three and a half weeks after he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to L.A. “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 his new 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 floor (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.
However, Doncic got through a night that had been looming ever since Dallas dealt him, an emotional hurdle as he processed being back around not only his old teammates, with whom he has maintained friendships, but the Mavs’ 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 Mavs’ bench, directing several shouts and staredowns that way after making plays to help 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.”
Mavs guard Kyrie Irving, who led all scorers with 35 points, said the matchup was “awkward as s—” after facing off against the same guy 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 do it all over again in Dallas on April 9. Returning to his old home will bring different challenges for Doncic, emotional and otherwise. The Mavs are hoping Anthony Davis, sent from L.A. to Dallas in the deal, will have recovered by then from the left adductor strain he suffered after the trade and can play.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said there is 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 L.A. 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 have to play Dallas, they will have had more time to establish a new normal.
“I mean, 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.
Source: espn.com