LeBron James' Lakers Spoil Luka Doncic's Return to Mavs Lineup in Blowout Fashion

Luka Doncic returned to the Mavs' lineup for Wednesday's matchup against the Lakers in a game that became a lopsided defeat.

LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic returned to the Dallas Mavericks lineup after a four-game injury absence caused by a right ankle sprain. Coming off a 125-120 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans featuring a combing 83 points from Kyrie Irving (42 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (41 points), the Mavs were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers 127-110 on Wednesday night. 

“Any time Luka comes back, it’s a positive,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “Guys were playing different roles. Luka comes back they’ve got to make the adjustment.”

After Derrick Jones Jr. converted from beyond the arc at the 6:52 mark of the opening period, the Mavs held a 17-10 lead. The interior presence of Dereck Lively II was felt early, with the Lakers favoring containing the Mavs' perimeter superstars from having favorable scoring chances in the paint, primarily freeing up Doncic to facilitate. 

The Lakers took a 20-19 lead on a lob to Davis with Lively on the sideline, with momentum continuing in their favor. D'Angelo Russell pushed the Lakers' lead to 32-23 after snaking a ball screen to get into a floater. Los Angeles was overpowering Dallas' smaller personnel with Doncic and Lively off the court. With Irving making three free throws after being fouled on a pull-up from deep, Dallas reduced its deficit to 32-26 at the end of the first quarter.

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Lively checked back into the game with the Lakers up 34-26 with 10:55 left in the first half. Doncic heated up a bit, hitting a step-back 3-pointer early in the second quarter, later with a baseline jumper, then a floater after playing through contact on a drive.  The Mavs came within one point (36-35) midway through the period. A slew of empty possessions prevented Dallas from overtaking the lead, falling 40-35. 

The Mavs deployed a double-big lineup with Maxi Kleber and Lively on the floor after the Lakers went with James, Davis, and Christian Wood as their frontcourt. Doncic aggressively attacked downhill, bringing Wood into the action by having Lively set ball screens or by clearing out and attacking Taurean Prince. 

Doncic went to the sideline with 4:04 left in the half, noticeably tired in his return from injury. Irving took over as the top option as he re-entered the game with Dallas down 47-43. Dallas struggled to contain Davis, whether needing to make rotations after doubling in the post or handling in single coverage near the paint.

“There were points and times we executed well and points and times we didn’t," Lively said. "We left the top of the key wide open many times. Usually, we’re more focused on X-outs to the corners, and I feel like it was mis-talking on the back line.”

With Doncic continuing his momentum, he helped lead the Mavs to trailing by just 55-53 at the break. To set the tone, he already had totaled 20 points, nine rebounds, and six assists before halftime. Lively's activity in the paint led to him recording 12 points and seven boards. Hardaway scored in double figures (10 points) despite coming up empty on four attempts from the perimeter, while the team shot 3-16 (18.8 percent) from distance. 

Irving, shaken up after colliding with James early in the game, had to go to the locker room in the first quarter. He returned to action but finished with only three points in the half, shooting 0-6 from the floor and 0-1 from deep, but was 3-3 on free throws, with three rebounds and three assists.

“He hurt his hip there and he was just trying to get loose and trying to get back into the flow of things,” Kidd said of Irving. “I think he just struggled from that point on.”

The Lakers did not relent coming out of the break, building back up their lead to double figures (69-59) after James connected with Davis on a throw-ahead pass on the break at the 8:56 mark. Doncic put up a floater, drawing a foul in the process, resulting in an and-one to help create a boost. 

“They made a point to have pace,” Kidd said. “They took advantage of the misses and they got to the rim.”

A continued disparity in perimeter shooting execution stifled the Mavs from rallying back, with Hardaway missing a wide-open look from the corner and James getting a few friendly bounces off the rim on a make on the following play. Russell hit from deep, then turnovers leading to breakaway scores pushed Los Angeles up 79-64 midway through the third period — achieving a new largest lead to that point.

The Lakers went up 22 after Russell hit a 3-pointer, but the Mavs answered with a Doncic-led run to come within 14 points late in the period. Doncic emphasized getting downhill again for finishes, floaters, or to draw fouls while continuing to create open shots for teammates, with a pair converting amid a tough shooting night for the team. 

“In the third quarter they were just knocking everything down, so that was tough,” Doncic said. 

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Davis used his size advantage aggressively, with Kleber often playing the five after halftime. The Mavs subbed in Dwight Powell with 2:10 left to play in the third period after Davis pulled off an and-one playing through contact against Kleber. Davis proceeded to overpower Davis as well. Grant Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer before the fourth quarter, resulting in the Lakers' lead being 97-80. 

The Lakers' superior perimeter shooting results continued, with Russell hitting to extend Los Angeles' advantage to 105-82 with 10:25 remaining in regulation. Russell scored his 29th point of the night to become the team's leading scorer at that point of the contest, with Davis scoring 28. Given Dallas's size disadvantage, being outperformed from the perimeter proved costly. 

Doncic returned to the game after the timeout, with Dallas trailing heavily. He hit a step-back jumper from deep and created some shots for teammates — often with Lively in the paint — but ultimately, it wasn't enough to prevent the Lakers from continuing to lead by 20 or more points throughout the final frame. He checked out with under five minutes left to play, with the team trailing by 23. 

After playing 36 minutes, Doncic totaled 33 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals, and two blocks, leading the Mavs. He admitted the first game back is usually challenging when returning from injury, with various 3-point attempts not going in that he thought would be makes. 

“For me, for the first game, it’s tough – the legs,” Doncic said. “I thought a lot of threes were going in, but [they] didn’t.”

Aside from Doncic, no other Mavs player reached the 20-point threshold for Dallas, with Irving scoring 12 points, shooting 4-16 from the floor and 1-5 from the perimeter, but he added five rebounds and six assists. Hardaway also scored 12 points on a tough shooting night, going 5-17 overall and 0-7 from deep. Dallas has three of the most impactful high volume 3-point shooters in the league — Doncic, Irving, and Hardaway — but they all three combined to shoot 3-23 in this game.

We generated a lot of them, when you look at Timmie, 0-for-7, Luka 2-for-7, Kai 1 for 5,” Kidd said. “They looked (like) wide open looks. They just didn’t drop for us this evening.”

Lively had a strong statistical performance, recording 16 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists, but there is plenty for him to learn from after being bested in head-to-head sequences by Davis. Lively sees room for improvement regarding how the Mavs were approaching attacking the Lakers' defense. 

“Some shots didn’t fall,” Lively said. “There were some times where we came down the court and we just weren’t moving the ball well. We were just kind of getting up jumpers instead of trying to get into the offense and trying to move the ball around so we could get a better look."

Davis had a near triple-double, finishing with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists, often setting the tone in the paint for the Lakers. James racked up 25 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a steady performance. Russell was another standout with 29 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Reaves, who joined Russell in the starting backcourt, added 14 points and seven assists.

Next up, the Mavs return to action on Friday when they face the Golden State Warriors, completing a two-game West Coast road trip.