Takeaway: Naji Marshall knew Dončić was going to shed some tears

The prodigal son returned “home” Wednesday night and promptly did his thing.

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Dončić started Wednesday off by crying when a tribute video for him was shown on the American Airlines Center Jumbotron. By the time the night was over, Dončić had poured in 45 points, collected eight rebounds, dispensed six assists and picked up four steals as the Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 112-97.

Afterwards, everyone, including Mavs forward Naji Marshall, talked about the amazing tribute video that was afforded Dončić.

“It was beautiful,” Marshall said. “Luka means so much to this city and vice versa. Luka moved from his country to America starting in Dallas. . .and it’s just all love.

“He’s one of a kind. We all know what he’s capable of. We’ve seen this story before. Shout out to Luka. I know that meant everything to him to just come back and do that, so shout out to him.”

Back on Feb. 2, the Mavs traded Dončić, Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick. Dončić was a five-time first-team All-NBA selection, and had taken the Mavs to the 2022 Western Conference Finals and to last year’s NBA Finals.

Thus, all the tears and cheers from the fans who were in attendance.

“He was here (six-and-a-half) years,” Davis said. “He did some great things for the organization (and) for the city, so it was definitely deserving.

“Obviously, you saw the emotions from him and him crying. I’m glad that he was able to get a tribute and an ovation from the fans that he deserves. He played a helluva game.”

Marshall said he already knew the pre-game tribute video would make Dončić shed some tears.

“That’s mad love out there,” Marshall said. “Anybody would cry — for real, for real.

“I just knew when he came back, he’s just a generational player like that (that) I know people love to see. I just knew it was going to be like this. I knew he was going to cry, so shout out to Luka. He did his thing.”

Dončić was able to wipe away the tears and shoot a solid 16-of-28 from the field, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. He scored 14 points in the first quarter, 17 in the second, seven more in the third and an additional seven in the fourth in what was a bonafide electric setting inside AAC.

“It was a playoff atmosphere,” Davis said. “Luka’s first game back here. It was exactly what we expected it to be.

“It looks like he’s getting adjusted (to playing with the Lakers) now.”

When asked if he was glad this emotionally-charged game was over, Davis said: “We’re mad that we lost. The other stuff we can’t control. We’re a team who wants to win basketball games and we’re getting ready for the play-in (tournament).

“The other stuff we can’t control, nor do we try to control it or let it fill our minds up. We just try to go out and do what we can do as a team and try to get better.”

Despite 38 points from Dončić through three quarters, the Mavs were only down, 83-76, entering the fourth quarter. That led coach Jason Kidd to say: “We were in the game, and he was going off. We were right there.”

Still, when Dončić left the game for good with 1:34 remaining, he received a very long standing ovation following his memorable performance.

“I knew it was going to be an emotional night, but you try to take the emotions out of it and just focus on the game,” Kidd said. “I thought the group in that locker room did a really good job of being down at half — we’re in the ballgame, we take the lead (early in the fourth quarter).

“We just have to clean up a couple of things on the offensive and defensive end and maybe it’s a different story. But it’s a great lesson for our group that’s new that’s going into a play-in situation to be able to go through and understand what it takes to win.”

Here are the takeaways from the 15-point loss to the Lakers.

*Despite of all the attention given Luka Dončić on Wednesday, the Mavs actually locked up a spot in the Western Conference’s four-team play-in tournament less than 24 hours ago. The Mavs will play the Sacramento Kings next Wednesday in the play-in tournament. Depending on what happens this weekend in the two games the Mavs have to play at home against Toronto and at Memphis — and the two home games the Kings have to play against the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns — that play-in game will be played either at American Airlines Center or in Sacramento.

*Mavs guard Naji Marshall scored a team-high 23 points and recorded a game-high eight assists. Six of Marshall’s top eight career scoring games have come this season, and he has produced 17 games of 20 or more points this season. Prior to signing a three-year, $27 million free agent contract with the Mavs last summer, Marshall only had five 20-point games in his career. Also, his eight assists tied for the third-most assists he’s had in a game in his five-year career. After never having more than seven assists in a game in his career going into this season, Marshall manufactured 10 assists against New Orleans on Jan. 15, 10 more against Phoenix on March 9, and eight against Atlanta on April 2.

*The Mavs led Wednesday’s game, 87-85, after Klay Thompson buried a three-pointer with nine minutes remaining in the game. Then, LeBron James personally outscored the Mavs, 11-10, the rest of the game, with the Lakers overall outscoring the Mavs, 27-10. And during the final nine minutes of the game, the Mavs were just 2-of-7 from the field, missed four free throws and turned the ball over five times. As a whole, the 20 turnovers the Mavs committed led to 25 points for the Lakers and overshadowed the 30 assists and splendid 50 percent shooting from the field which Dallas finished the game with.

X: @DwainPrice