Dončić registers triple-double as Lakers outlast Mavs, 107-99

LOS ANGELES – In an emotionally-charged game that had a playoff-type feel to it, Luka Dončić registered a triple-double in his first game against his former team and the Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Dallas Mavericks, 107-99, Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Dončić collected 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. But the Mavs’ sticky defense held him to just 6-of-17 shooting, including forcing him to miss six of his seven shots from three-point range.

In a trade that got attention across the NBA landscape and throughout sports, the Mavs sent Markieff Morris, Maxi Kleber and Dončić to the Lakers on Feb. 2 for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round draft pick. And because of that, many in Lakerland described this as a revenge game for Dončić.

Dončić, who played the first six-and-a-half years of his career with the Mavs, admitted to being emotional leading up to this game.

“The closure is going to take a while, I think,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s just, it’s not ideal. I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. It will go little by little. Every day is better.”

The Mavs trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but fought back and tied it at 91 on a Naji Marshall three-pointer with 6:27 remaining. But the Lakers outscored the Mavs 16-8 the rest of the way, padding their record to 35-21, while the Mavs dropped to 31-28 going into Thursday’s home game against the Charlotte Hornets.

Down the stretch, LeBron James took charge, starting the late Lakers’ run with a free throw. Dončić maneuvered inside for a basket, and followed that up with a half court pass which James turned into a dunk and a 96-91 lead for the Lakers with 4:05 left.

Kyrie Irving drained a three-pointer for the Mavs, and former Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith scored inside to put LA up, 98-94, with 3:13 left. Rui Hachimura and Irving each popped in a bucket, and James followed with a rebound dunk and a 102-96 lead for the Lakers.

Hachimura added a free throw and another basket, and suddenly the Lakers had a firm grip on this game and a 105-96 lead with just 1:05 to go.

Afterward, Lakers coach JJ Redick said he thought Dončić handled the emotions of the game very well.

“Not a great shooting night, but he made a lot of plays and had some good defensive plays as well,” Redick said. “I think some of the stuff with our offensive shooting woes was due to some organization problems and some spacing problems.

“That affected everybody and it affected him as well.”

Irving led the Mavs with a game-high 35 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Klay Thompson scored 22 points and grabbed eight boards, and Max Christie added 10 points and six assists against his former team.

In addition to Dončić, the Lakers were able to get 27 points and 12 rebounds from James, 20 points and five assists from Austin Reaves, and 15 points and six boards from Hachimura.

As part of their game plan, the Mavs doubled Dončić on several occasions with moderate success. But the Lakers had a major advantage in the rebounding department, 57-45.

And because the Mavs were without injured big men Anthony Davis, Dereck II and Daniel Gafford, the Lakers got way too many easy opportunity baskets near the rim and outscored the Mavs in the paint, 52-34.

“I thought we did a great job with the emotions of the game and understanding what our game plan was,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “Our job was to try to find a way to win. We put ourselves in the position and came up short.

“The guys fought, we were down 16 and didn’t let go of the rope. We kept fighting and found a way into this game. But they were the better team tonight.”

As expected, Dončić came out firing and firing and firing some more. Dončić jacked up the crowd when he drilled back-to-back three-pointers to put the Lakers up, 19-14, leading to a timeout by the Mavs.

After the timeout, the officials at the NBA review office revealed that one of the triples by Dončić occurred when he was out of bounds, so three points were taken off the scoreboard.

By the time the first quarter ended, Dončić was 3-of-7 from the field and had already collected nine points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Mavs, meanwhile, had problems locating the basket early on as they were just 7-of-29 from the field, including only 2-of-11 from downtown.

Just to be in a road game of this magnitude without their formidable front wall of Davis, Lively and Gafford gave the Mavs hope of what lies ahead whenever that trio returns to the court.

“Man, a lot of our effort was there,” Irving said. “It was just our body positioning, and they were taking advantage of just where we were spaced out on the floor defensively.

“They got a few fast break layups. Bron was creating space in that dunker, and then down the stretch they made the effort plays that were necessary to get the win, which created that separation point.”

The Mavs ended the first half on a 12-4 run – capped by a three-pointer from Christie – and trailed 59-51 at the game’s midway point. Irving scored 18 of his points in the first half as he did his best keeping the Mavs afloat.

“He was great on both ends,” Kidd said of Irving. “He was aggressive and got good looks. He probably thought he had some good looks and layups that didn’t follow form, but I thought he was great. He was able to play off his teammates’ shots, and it was good — really good.”

In the end though, the game’s final six minutes just didn’t go the Mavs’ way.

X: @DwainPrice