The NBA world was turned upside down Feb. 2 when the Dallas Mavericks traded five-time All-Star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future pick.
The deal sent shockwaves through the league, leading to ongoing discourse about the repercussions of the deal in Dallas and what the future now holds for the Lakers, one of the most decorated franchises in league history. The ire from Mavericks fans erupted after the franchise questioned the conditioning and commitment of their former superstar on his way to Los Angeles and Davis picked up another injury midway through his first game in Dallas that has kept him out since.
The Lakers beat the Mavericks on Tuesday 107-99 in the first matchup involving the teams since the trade. Doncic recorded a triple-double in the win as the Los Angeles offense was just too much to keep up with down the stretch.
Here are the key takeaways from the high-profile matchup.
Takeaways
This was an extremely fun matchup, even if you set aside the great anticipation of a “Luka Revenge Game.”
The Mavs showed a ton of pride defensively, and Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson flashed brilliance on offense, to give Dallas a chance late. But the Lakers clamped down and defended down the stretch, as LeBron James put his foot on the pedal at both ends when it counted to close things out.
The massive media glare will always be there when it comes to Los Angeles; particularly when it features two of the NBA’s best minds, LeBron and Luka. But it also should be fascinating to see what a full-strength Dallas squad with Anthony Davis looks like in the playoffs and beyond. — Chris Herring
It wasn’t pretty, or easy, but the Lakers eventually came away with a 107-99 victory over the Mavericks in the first Luka Doncic Bowl. It was a game that showed the promise and questions around the new-look Lakers, and some signs of what Dallas could eventually look like if the Mavericks can get healthy.
For Los Angeles, the combination of Doncic, James and Austin Reaves is going to be extraordinarily tough for opposing defenses to handle. Few teams have three defenders good enough to match up with the three primary Laker ball handlers — and having a good defender on them doesn’t guarantee they’ll be able to slow them down.
But questions remain for the Lakers. Although Dallas shot pretty well from 3-point range (17-for-44) in this game, the Mavericks generated one wide open look after another, and a better shooting opponent will have more success with that many clean attempts from deep. During the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick complained about his team’s work on the defensive glass — and understandably so, given the extremely short-handed Mavericks had 14 offensive rebounds with Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II all watching in street clothes.
For Dallas, having a big, physical roster around the brilliant individual talents of Irving is a formula that, if the Mavericks can get healthy, might have them able to go toe-to-toe with anyone this side of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference. But the amount of injuries across the roster at the moment — plus the lingering concern about Irving’s back issues — could have the Mavericks in a perilous position moving forward.
The best thing working in the Mavericks’ favor on that front is the Suns’ — now losers of 10 of their past 13 games — continued backslide. That, coupled with Victor Wembanyama going down for the season, essentially has locked in the 10 playoff and play-in teams in the West.
The play-in, though, is not where Dallas hoped to be when it chose to move on from Doncic. And the play-in is not where the Lakers are going to be after yet another win has improved them to 15-4 in their past 19 games, and has them thinking about not only home-court advantage in the first round, but potentially — incredibly — finishing as high as second in the West. — Tim Bontemps
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Luka and LeBron combine for 57 in Lakers’ rout of Nuggets
Luka Doncic drops 32 points and LeBron James adds 25 as the Lakers take down the Nuggets.
