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Mavericks Make Miserable Franchise History in First Game After Luka Doncic Trade

The first game of the post-Luka era went very, very poorly in Dallas.

Liam McKeone

The Mavs got their doors blown off by the Cavs in the immediate wake of the Doncic trade
The Mavs got their doors blown off by the Cavs in the immediate wake of the Doncic trade / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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Lost amidst the whirlwind of noise surrounding the Dallas Mavericks' blockbuster trade to send Luka Doncic to Los Angeles? There was still a game to be played on Sunday.

Less than 24 hours after the ground-shaking transaction that sent the face of the franchise to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, the Mavs suited up for a Sunday matinee contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dallas was already set to be shorthanded, with starters Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford all out with injury. The trade couldn't provide reinforcements with incomers Davis and Max Christie still needing to onboard.

So the Mavs took on the Cavaliers, who own the best record in the East, without multiple starters and dealing with the emotional aftershocks of the transaction. They very clearly felt it, as the team set a new franchise record for worst first quarter performance in the organization's history.

When the buzzer sounded, the Mavericks were down 50-19 to Cleveland. The 31-point deficit marks Dallas's worst after one quarter of play, breaking a record from 1981, according to the local broadcast.

Matters improved somewhat in the second quarter, as the Mavs managed to put 27 points on the board in the next 12 minutes. Unfortunately it was more of the same on the other end of the court; the Cavs scored 41 points to put the score at 91-46 at halftime, which marks Cleveland's best first half performance ever.

All in all, a very bad day for Mavericks fans everywhere.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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