Los Angeles (United States) (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 on Tuesday. 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 teammates. “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.
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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, seven rebounds, and four assists. Klay Thompson put up 22 points for Dallas.
– Cavs win again –
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 Pritchard had 20 points and Jayson Tatum put up 19 points and provided 11 assists for the Celtics. White shot six of 11 three-pointers in a game where Toronto trailed by 17 early in the fourth quarter.
Although the Raptors were able to cut the lead to seven with 4:18 left, the outcome was never truly in doubt, with White’s last three-pointer sealing victory. Brown did not play in the final three minutes of the game as he struggled with an injury to his left leg. The Celtics had been without Kristaps Porzingis through illness, while Jrue Holiday was rested, Luke Kornet was absent for personal reasons, and Al Horford had a sore big toe.
White praised the way the team had coped with those absences. “Standards are standards, so it doesn’t matter who is playing. A lot of guys had big minutes for us, we had to figure it out and we got the win,” he said. The Memphis Grizzlies, third in the West, needed overtime to beat a determined Phoenix Suns 151-148, with Ja Morant top-scoring with 29 points and providing eight assists. Morant scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying shot before the end of regulation.
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