LOS ANGELES — There were signs of how much this night meant to Luka Doncic, going against the team he thought he would spend his career with only to get unceremoniously traded away a little over three weeks ago. He picked up an early technical foul, stared down the Mavericks bench after some plays, and late in the game he was pressing a little to try and get buckets for himself.
After the Lakers win he didn’t try to hide it.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” Doncic said from the podium after a 19-point, 15-rebound, 12-assist triple-double. “I can’t even explain, it was a different game… Sometimes I don’t know what I was doing. And I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
It’s time for Doncic and the Lakers to look forward because the team we have seen in the last couple of games looks like a contender in the West. Doncic said putting this game in the rearview mirror will help (even if he has to travel back to Dallas for a game on April 9).
“It definitely will help me,” Doncic said. “It’s definitely going to help in the long [run].”
“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…” LeBron James said, speaking from some experience. “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.”
A season ago, Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals because he and Kyrie Irving — who was on fire against the Lakers, scoring 35 points — figured out how to play together and elevate the team around them.
Doncic and LeBron are figuring out that chemistry quickly. Having Doncic and Austin Reaves taking some of the playmaking responsibilities off has allowed LeBron to use his energy — he’s not conserving anything — on the defensive end, where coach J.J. Redick said he has been playing at an All-Defensive Team level in recent weeks. Over the last 10 games, the Lakers have the third-best defense in the NBA.
The Lakers are looking like at least fringe contenders in the West, a genuine threat to Oklahoma City. There are questions about that defense in a playoff series — Doncic and Reaves are players teams can target — but the Lakers are legitimate.
That will help Doncic move on from being traded from the only franchise he has ever known, but the process will take time.
“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.”
