<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-patrick-mahomes-dallas-mavericks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic shares moment with Patrick Mahomes after Dallas return');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Patrick-Mahomes-and-Luka-Doncic-after-Lakers-Mavericks-game.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic shares moment with Patrick Mahomes after Dallas return</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-10T08:30:02-07:00">April 10th, 8:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-10T08:33:43-07:00">April 10th, 8:33am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — The Los Angeles Lakers took care of business on Wednesday night, earning a 112-97 win against the Dallas Mavericks. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-sends-fans-frenzy-nuclear-45-point-game-dallas-return">Luka Doncic stole headlines in his return to Dallas</a> after dropping 45 points on his former team. Mahomes greeted his former teammates after the game, and he also <a href="https://x.com/jovanbuha/status/1910152404097519885" rel="noopener">took some time to meet with</a> Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, video via Jovan Buha of The Athletic.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Luka Doncic embraces with Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and then Mark Cuban after LA’s 112-97 win over Dallas <a href="https://t.co/7JVOVdhtay">pic.twitter.com/7JVOVdhtay</a></p><p>— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) <a href="https://twitter.com/jovanbuha/status/1910152404097519885?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>As seen in the video, Doncic also greets Mark Cuban.</p><p>Mahomes, who is from Texas, is often seen attending Mavericks games. He also immediately reacted to the news of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-mavericks-luka-doncic-anthony-davis-trade">Luka Doncic being traded to the Lakers</a> in early February.</p><p>“Wait what?” Mahomes <a href="https://x.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1885923059799937479" rel="noopener">wrote on</a> X, formerly Twitter, the night the trade was announced.</p><p>After seemingly realizing it was indeed a real report, Mahomes <a href="https://x.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1885924364316537154" rel="noopener">took to</a> X again.</p><p>“I’m sick rn….”</p><p>The next day, however, the Chiefs QB and Mavs fan <a href="https://x.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1886045684702326894" rel="noopener">decided to share</a> an optimistic perspective on the situation.</p><p>“Kyrie and AD going to be nice tho!” Mahomes wrote.</p><p>Unfortunately, fans were only able to watch Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving play together for just over a half of a game. AD suffered an injury in his first contest with the Mavs, leading to an extended absence. He returned in March, but Kyrie suffered a torn ACL before Davis returned.</p><p>Meanwhile, Luka Doncic and the Lakers are currently sitting in third place in the Western Conference standings. Dallas clinched an NBA Play-In Tournament spot, but the Mavs are in 10th place overall.</p><p>The Mavericks could become a true championship contender once again when Irving returns next season. However, Doncic will be missed in Dallas regardless. Mahomes was just one of the fans who was shocked to learn that the Mavericks traded Luka in the first place.</p><p>In all reality, many fans are still trying to accept the reality of the situation.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic shares moment with Patrick Mahomes after Dallas return

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-jj-redick-super-human-mavericks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic draws JJ Redick ‘super-human’ truth bomb after Mavericks game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-walks-on-Mavericks-floor.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic draws JJ Redick ‘super-human’ truth bomb after Mavericks game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-10T07:30:33-07:00">April 10th, 7:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-10T07:34:21-07:00">April 10th, 7:34am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — Luka Doncic led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-97 victory against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, on Wednesday night. It was an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-reveals-favorite-moment-tribute-video">emotional return to Dallas for Doncic</a>. Yet, he was able to still score 45 points, something that Lakers head coach JJ Redick <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1910155207612285196" rel="noopener">called “super-human.”</a></p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">JJ Redick says Luka Doncic’s ability to play at an elite level after such an emotional tribute video moment is “super-human.”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MFFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MFFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/azgFqAImy0">pic.twitter.com/azgFqAImy0</a></p><p>— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1910155207612285196?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Allowing himself to be vulnerable… Some of his teammates got emotional, some of the coaches got emotional. It was a beautiful moment,” JJ Redick said of Luka <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-tears-video-tribute-dallas-return">Doncic receiving a tribute video</a> from the Mavericks before the game. “I thought the video was great. But just his ability to go then perform, lights turn on, he’s teary eyed still as we walk out on the court… To have the emotional resolve to go then put on that kind of performance, it’s super-human.</p><p>“I think all his teammates know that, too, because I think all his teammates can empathize with what he just went through over the last couple months. Maybe some anticipation, maybe some dread, but certainly a ton of emotions about tonight. And then he went and did that. It’s big time.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-jj-redick-jokes-disappointed-him-luka-doncics-revenge-game">Redick also joked that he was “disappointed”</a> because Luka Doncic failed to score 50 points. In all reality, though, the Lakers head coach was clearly impressed with his star player’s performance on Wednesday.</p><p>Doncic had already established himself as not just a fan-favorite in Dallas, but one of the greatest Mavericks of all-time. He accomplished so much at just 25 years old. Luka was traded the same month he would turn 26, and he has continued to play well in LA with the Lakers.</p><p>One has to imagine that Doncic is happy to move on from the Mavericks-Lakers game, though. As Redick mentioned, there was likely plenty of anticipation and possibly some dread before the contest. Now, Luka can move on and focus on helping the Lakers make a playoff run.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic draws JJ Redick ‘super-human’ truth bomb after Mavericks game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-reality-playing-mavericks-visitor');   ga('set', 'title', 'Luka Doncic hit with eye-opening reality about playing as a Mavericks visitor');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lakers-star-Luka-Doncic-against-the-Mavericks.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Luka Doncic hit with eye-opening reality about playing as a Mavericks visitor</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-10T05:44:39-07:00">April 10th, 5:44am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-10T05:44:39-07:00">April 10th, 5:44am</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Luka Doncic stepped onto the court with the Los Angeles Lakers for his first game back in Dallas as a visiting player, greeted by cheers in the arena where he once shed tears and built his legacy. Fighting back emotion at tip-off, Doncic went on to lead his new squad to a 112-97 victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday night.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-explodes-unreal-first-quarter-mavericks">Doncic, the former Mavericks superstar exploded</a> for 31 points in the first half before dialing it back, closing the night with 45 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals. LeBron James took over after the break, delivering 27 points and seven rebounds to guide the Lakers to victory. Dončić’s 45-point outing matched his highest scoring performance in a Lakers uniform and locked in a playoff spot for Los Angeles.</p><p>Walking into the American Airlines Center as a visitor for the first time, Doncic <a href="https://x.com/AnthonyIrwinLA/status/1910157190670737484" rel="noopener">was taken aback</a> by the visiting team’s locker room stating, “I’ve never been in this locker room, shit. It’s so small.”</p><p>Speculation ran wild before Doncic’s return to Dallas. Would the Mavericks honor him properly? Would he respond with gratitude or resentment after the trade that rocked the league? Would he attack the game with revenge on his mind? The answer came just minutes before tipoff, when the Mavericks aired a touching tribute video that moved the 26-year-old to tears, his emotions clearly spilling over before he even stepped on the court.</p><h2><b>Luka Doncic’s emotional return to the Mavericks’ home court</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lakers-Luka-Doncic-guarding-Mavericks-Anthony-Davis.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-drops-bittersweet-message-mavericks-fans">Doncic admitted to</a> ESPN that the tribute video nearly overwhelmed him to the point where he didn’t think he could take the floor. “So many emotions, can”t even explain it … I don’t know how I did it, because when I was watching that video I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m playing this game.’ But all my teammates had my back. They really supported me, so I appreciate that,” said the newest Lakers superstar.</p><p>The atmosphere inside American Airlines Center was filled with mixed emotions. Fans erupted with cheers each time Doncic touched the ball early on, even as they rooted for the Mavericks to take down the Lakers.</p><p>But when it came to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nico-harrisons-facial-reaction-amid-fire-nico-chants-says-it-all-for-mavericks-gm">Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison</a>—the architect of the blockbuster trade—there was no split sentiment. Chants of “Fire Nico” echoed through the arena during free throws, reflecting the crowd’s frustration loud and clear.</p><p>The 38-42 Mavericks stayed competitive for most of the night, but a critical 14-1 run midway through the fourth quarter sealed their fate. The dagger came from Doncic, who delivered a reverse lay-up with three minutes left, putting an end to Dallas’ comeback hopes and extending the Lakers’ lead to 105-93.</p><p>The Mavericks fell to 0-2 against the Lakers since the Doncic trade, dropping their first meeting in Los Angeles 107-99. The Lakers boosted their record to 49-31, staying firmly in third place in the West, while Dallas held on to the 10th spot, clinging to the final play-in position.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Luka Doncic hit with eye-opening reality about playing as a Mavericks visitor

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-magic-johnson-weighs-in-luka-doncics-huge-game-vs-mavericks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Magic Johnson celebrates Luka Doncic’s huge game vs. Mavericks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-playing-against-the-Mavericks.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Magic Johnson celebrates Luka Doncic’s huge game vs. Mavericks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T21:14:33-07:00">April 9th, 9:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T21:14:33-07:00">April 9th, 9:14pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a Senior Editor who specializes in NFL and WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, FanSided, The Needle Drop, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about football and wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In 2025, few voices in the Los Angeles Lakers’ sphere <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-magic-johnson-makes-his-western-conference-finals-picks">hold the same weight as Magic Johnson</a>.</p><p>A certified Hall of Famer with his jersey hanging in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena, Johnson has remained among the Lakers’ biggest supporters ever since his playing days came to an end, with even a failed tenure as the team’s general manager failing to fracture his fandom.</p><p>And so naturally, when the Lakers secured a massive win over the Dallas Mavericks in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-drops-bittersweet-message-mavericks-fans" rel="noopener">Luka Doncic’s big game back in Dallas</a>, who but Johnson to put a bow on the proceedings, <a href="https://x.com/MagicJohnson/status/1910160192714780977?t=dToAV3SDuNW9lDAYM3IeLw&amp;s=19" rel="noopener">celebrating the young passer</a> for a job well done back in Dallas.</p><p>Taking the court with five years of expectations on his shoulders, Doncic did not disappoint in his big return to Dallas, but Johnson is correct: The real hero of the game was James, who put up 27 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 36 minutes of action. While Johnson missed all four of his outside shots, he did score 13 in the fourth and helped to close out the game 112-97. Doncic got to be the big hero, with even Dallas’ fans cheering him on, and in the end, the Lakers are still in third place with only just two games left to play, which almost certainly locks them into that spot for the playoffs.</p><p>Can the Lakers build on this win and really put on a show in the playoffs? Well, if they continue to play like they did against the Mavericks, it’s safe to say they could make the <i>magic</i> in the postseason.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Magic Johnson celebrates Luka Doncic’s huge game vs. Mavericks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-immediate-reaction-to-big-win-with-luka-doncic-vs-mavericks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ LeBron James’ immediate reaction to big win with Luka Doncic vs. Mavericks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-celebrating-with-LeBron-James.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ LeBron James’ immediate reaction to big win with Luka Doncic vs. Mavericks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T20:43:32-07:00">April 9th, 8:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T20:43:32-07:00">April 9th, 8:43pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a Senior Editor who specializes in NFL and WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, FanSided, The Needle Drop, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about football and wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-lebron-james-concern-luka-doncic-return-mavericks">Los Angeles Lakers took the court against the Dallas Mavericks</a> in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-drops-bittersweet-message-mavericks-fans">Luka Doncic’s big return game at the American Airlines Arena</a>, more was on the line than just bragging rights.</p><p>While yes, Doncic wanted to show up and show out for the fans who gave him a home when he moved to the States to become an NBA player, the Lakers are also firmly in a battle for playoff positioning at the top of the Western Conference, Los Angeles Clippers, the Denver Nuggets, the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves all technically within reach of the third seed if the Lakers were to lose out.</p><p>Discussing how it felt to get Doncic the win in Dallas, LeBron James noted that the team expected it to be a ruckus atmosphere but wanted to come through for their point guard to<a href="https://x.com/SpectrumSN/status/1910157201156821174" rel="noopener"> make sure he had a good time</a>.</p><p>“Yeah, absolutely. We knew the environment we were getting ourselves into,” James explained. “We knew how emotionally training and emotionally fulfilling it would be for Luka, so for us to be here and support him in this moment was big-time for us.”</p><p>James also commented on the Lakers’ own need to secure a win in the game, noting that after taking the loss in OKC, LA needed to get back on track.</p><p>“Whatever it takes for us to close this game,” James noted. “We understand we still have a lot at take, and we had a tough loss last night in Oklahoma City, so we really wanted this one, not just for Luka but for us as a team, for us to continue to get better for what we want to do.”</p><p>While things did get tighter than some fans might have liked in the end, the Lakers left Dallas in with a relatively comfortable win, inching one step closer to 50 wins with a 112-97 W over the Mavericks. And for fans in Dallas? Well, they got to see Doncic play in person one last time, unless, of course, the two teams somehow meet in the playoffs.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"We really wanted this one, not only for Luka but for us as a team."</p><p>LBJ (27 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast) talks with <a href="https://twitter.com/LakersReporter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LakersReporter</a> after tonight's 112-97 win in Dallas over the Mavericks. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LakeShow?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LakeShow</a> <a href="https://t.co/LoNmKQAGij">pic.twitter.com/LoNmKQAGij</a></p><p>— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpectrumSN/status/1910157201156821174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ LeBron James’ immediate reaction to big win with Luka Doncic vs. Mavericks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-concern-luka-doncic-return-mavericks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ LeBron James reveals ‘only concern’ during Luka Doncic’s return vs. Mavericks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-LeBron.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ LeBron James reveals ‘only concern’ during Luka Doncic’s return vs. Mavericks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T20:34:31-07:00">April 9th, 8:34pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T20:34:31-07:00">April 9th, 8:34pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is a Senior Editor and College Sports Lead at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers were locked in a tight battle with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night before putting their foot on the gas in a way that only they can. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-lebron-james-hugs-luka-doncic-tribute-video">LeBron James and Luka Doncic took over</a> in the fourth quarter, stopping a furious Mavericks rally in its tracks in a crucial 112-97 win.</p><p>Of course, this game meant a little bit extra for Doncic and he didn’t wait until the fourth quarter to take over. Playing in front of the Dallas crowd for the first time since the stunning trade that made him a Laker, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-explodes-unreal-first-quarter-mavericks">Doncic scored 14 points in the first quarter</a> and was up to 31 by halftime. He was a bit quieter in the second half, but he also was able to sink some big buckets late that put the win away.</p><p>After the game, James made it known that he and the rest of the Lakers <a href="https://x.com/LakersReporter/status/1910156549814735017" rel="noopener">only had one priority</a> on what was surely a very emotional night for Doncic, via Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet.</p><p>“Our only concern was to support him,” James said after the game, per Trudell.</p><p>James and company certainly did that as Doncic had arguably his best game as a Laker.</p><p>The 40-year-old superstar pulled his weight as well in the win. While he didn’t quite have the start-to-finish impact that Doncic did, James gave the Lakers a spark that they desperately needed in the fourth quarter after the Mavericks erased a double-digit Los Angeles lead to take an 87-85 lead of their own.</p><p>From there, James came up with huge plays on both ends of the floor to put LA back in front and Doncic finished it off. For the game, James finished with 27 points and seven rebounds while Doncic dropped 45 points, eight boards and six dimes.</p><p>The Lakers have two games left now, and winning them both will lock them into the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. First, Los Angeles will take on the Houston Rockets on Friday night before a date with the Portland Trail Blazers to close the regular season on Sunday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ LeBron James reveals ‘only concern’ during Luka Doncic’s return vs. Mavericks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-honest-trade-anthony-davis');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic gets brutally honest on being traded for Anthony Davis');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-and-Anthony-Davis-speak-after-Lakers-Mavericks-game.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic gets brutally honest on being traded for Anthony Davis</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T20:21:37-07:00">April 9th, 8:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T20:21:37-07:00">April 9th, 8:21pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 112-97 in Luka Doncic’s return to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. Doncic overcame early emotions following a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-lebron-james-hugs-luka-doncic-tribute-video">heartwarming tribute video</a> to score 45 points in the win. Lakers head coach JJ Redick referred to Luka’s ability to play at an elite level amid the emotions “super-human.” Doncic, who was traded for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick, <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1910163807990689818" rel="noopener">was asked about</a> AD after the game.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Luka Doncic on Anthony Davis: </p><p>“We got traded for each other so now everybody is going to compare us… He’s an amazing player and I think he’s going to do really good in Dallas.”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MFFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MFFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/tL2rLbPQtn">pic.twitter.com/tL2rLbPQtn</a></p><p>— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1910163807990689818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“We got traded for each other so now everybody is going to compare us,” Luka Doncic told reporters. “He’s (Davis) an amazing player and I think he’s going to do really good in Dallas.”</p><p>Davis scored 13 points and recorded 11 rebounds in his first game against his former team. For Doncic, it technically wasn’t his first game against the Mavs, as he played when Dallas visited Los Angeles in late February. AD, however, was injured for that game.</p><p>Davis would have surely liked to have played better against the Lakers. The Lakers played impressive defense against AD and the Mavs, though. Dallas ended up only scoring 97 total points in the defeat as a result.</p><h2><b>Luka Doncic locked in as Lakers defeat Mavericks</b></h2><p>The Lakers’ offense endured its share of ups and downs overall, but Luka Doncic was locked in throughout the affair. He even scored 31 points in the first half.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-drops-bittersweet-message-mavericks-fans">Luka Doncic unquestionably made a statement</a> on Wednesday night in Dallas. The Mavericks were the only NBA team he had ever played for before the shocking trade in early February.</p><p>The fans in Dallas welcomed Doncic back to his old arena with open arms. They cheered when he touched the ball and screamed when he scored on Wednesday night. The fans still cheered for the Mavs players as well, but all of the attention was clearly on Doncic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic gets brutally honest on being traded for Anthony Davis

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/nba-stories/nba-news-dirk-nowitzki-ja-morants-grenade-celebration');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dirk Nowitzki does Ja Morant’s grenade celebration at Luka Doncic’s return game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Memphis-Grizzlies-guard-Ja-Morant_066d84.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Dirk Nowitzki does Ja Morant’s grenade celebration at Luka Doncic’s return game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T20:17:23-07:00">April 9th, 8:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T20:17:23-07:00">April 9th, 8:17pm</time><address><a>Zachary Draves</a>Zachary Draves is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Zachary covers a variety of different sports as well as sports history, sport and society, and sport and culture. He is also a professor of sociology.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Wednesday, Dallas Mavericks legend <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dirk-nowitzki-makes-decision-attending-luka-doncic-return-game" rel="noopener">Dirk Nowitzki attended</a> Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas and was caught on camera engaging in what has become a controversial celebration. </p><p>According to the Hater Report, he was seen with sports journalist Taylor Rooks <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1910139504536469688" rel="noopener">happily reenacting the guns-and-grenade</a> celebration popularized by Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. </p><p>https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1910139504536469688</p><p>Nowitzki was smiling and playing along with Rooks while watching the game. As if he thought nothing of it and didn’t have a care in the world. </p><p>The Mavericks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 112-97.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/memphis-grizzlies/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-fined-75000-gun-gestures-vs-heat" rel="noopener">The NBA fined Morant $75,000</a> for doing the guns and grenade celebration during last Friday’s game against the Miami Heat. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/memphis-grizzlies/grizzlies-news-blasts-ja-morant-repeated-gun-gestures" rel="noopener">Morant was criticized by former teammate Chandler Parsons</a> and<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/memphis-grizzlies/grizzlies-news-gilbert-arenas-defends-ja-morants-continued-gun-gestures" rel="noopener"> defended by former player Gilbert Arenas</a>, who infamously was sanctioned for bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room in 2009. </p><p>Nowitzki was one of his era’s most humble and less-than-flashy players. A less than controversial figure to say the least. </p><p>In spite of seemingly joking around, Nowitzki will likely receive no backlash, unlike Morant, who has a lot of baggage. </p><h2><b>Ja Morant’s past adds layers to the grenade celebration. </b></h2><p>Morant’s recent history makes him using these gestures controversial. He was suspended for 25 games after he was seen brandishing a weapon on an Instagram Livestream during the 2023-2024 season. </p><p>Afterwards, Morant issued an apology and vowed that he would change his ways and set a better example.</p><p>Since then, he has used the gun and grenade gestures in recent games against the Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets. He usually does it in a celebratory way after hitting a big shot. </p><p>Some haved criticized Morant for a perceived lack of insensitivity and say he hasn’t learned his lesson. Others are claiming that the NBA hasn’t been hard enough on him to tell him to clean up his act. </p><p>It remains to be seen whether the $75,000 fine will compel Morant to change in any meaningful way. </p><p>As for Nowitzki, he has not involved himself in any real controversy during his 21 seasons in the NBA. So he could get away with using these gestures, whereas with Morant, it is more complicated. </p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dirk Nowitzki does Ja Morant’s grenade celebration at Luka Doncic’s return game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/golf/lakers-news-luka-doncic-joins-kobe-bryants-stat-club-eruption-mavericks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic joins Kobe Bryant’s unreal stat club with eruption vs. Mavericks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/luka-doncic-los-angeles-lakers-vs-dallas-mavericks.jpg"><figcaption>© Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic joins Kobe Bryant’s unreal stat club with eruption vs. Mavericks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T20:13:14-07:00">April 9th, 8:13pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T20:13:14-07:00">April 9th, 8:13pm</time><address><a>Kendall Capps</a>Kendall Capps is a multi-media journalist and editor who is overly passionate about all sports (to his wife's dismay). He's a Senior Editor at ClutchPoints who previously managed SB Nation's golf vertical. He has also done work for FantasyPros and co-hosted the Lay The Points podcast as part of a decade-long career in sports entertainment.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Golf</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, 112-97. It was a highly <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-tears-video-tribute-dallas-return">emotional night as Lakers superstar Luka Doncic</a> made his long-awaited return to Dallas. It was the first time Doncic played in Dallas since the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/mavericks-news-anthony-davis-honest-admission-luka-doncic-trade">blockbuster trade that sent Doncic west</a> in exchange for Anthony Davis.</p><p>While Davis might not have had a night to remember, Doncic certainly did. In fact, it was a historic evening of sorts.</p><p>At halftime, Doncic had 31 points with six made threes. <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1910135458345988582" rel="noopener">He became just the third</a> Lakers player since the 1997-1998 season to accomplish that feat, joining LeBron James (1) and Kobe Bryant, who did so six times.</p><p>The Slovenia native ultimately finished with 45 points on a highly efficient 16-for-28 from the floor. He also chipped in with eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals in the win.</p><p>It was a massive win for the Lakers. They officially <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-mavericks-score-doncic-d5de64845de2bfe7119ef43b136a8d6e" rel="noopener">clinched a playoff spot</a>, and no longer need to worry about falling into the play-in tournament. But it was already unlikely that would happen.</p><p>But another thing the win means is that the Lakers are closing in on clinching the #3 seed in the Western Conference. They are now 49-31, 1.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies, who are all 47-32. The Minnesota Timberwolves are one game back of that.</p><p>In a stacked West, earning home court in the first round could prove crucial. Assuming the Lakers finish as the third seed, they will host one of the aforementioned teams. That would be an ideal spot for Los Angeles.</p><p>Were they to survive a battle in the first round, a road date in Houston is not the worst case. The Rockets are uber talented, but are extremely young and even with home court advantage in that series, the Lakers will certainly be favorites.</p><p>That is especially true if Luka Doncic plays the way he did Wednesday night.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic joins Kobe Bryant’s unreal stat club with eruption vs. Mavericks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-drops-bittersweet-message-mavericks-fans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic drops bittersweet message for Mavericks fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-after-the-Lakers-Mavericks-game.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic drops bittersweet message for Mavericks fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T19:50:22-07:00">April 9th, 7:50pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T19:50:22-07:00">April 9th, 7:50pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a Senior Editor who specializes in NFL and WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, FanSided, The Needle Drop, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about football and wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On an otherwise nonchalant Wednesday Night, there wasn’t a hotter ticket in professional sports than the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-explodes-unreal-first-quarter-mavericks">Los Angeles Lakers versus the Dallas Mavericks in Luka Doncic’s big return</a> to the American Airlines Center.</p><p>The crowd was white hot, fueled by a potent mixture of anger, sadness, and excitement, while their former “<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-was-intentionally-stabbed-in-back-espns-tim-macmahon-author-of-new-book-the-wonder-boy-says">Wonder Boy</a>” did his best to give them a show, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-tears-video-tribute-dallas-return">tearing up at the organization’s tribute video</a> before going to work, scoring 45 points on 7-10 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals for good measure.</p><p>After the game, Doncic gave his initial review of returning to Dallas as a foe, not a friend, and left Mavericks fans with a message that <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1910156854241485143" rel="noopener">likely won’t make his exit much easier to swallow</a> moving forward.</p><p>“I love these fans, I love this city, but it’s time to move on,” Doncic declared.<br></p><p>Gosh, that is as straightforward as it is calculatedly brutal.</p><p>Doncic also commented on his 45-point effort, noting that he didn’t even know how many points he scored; he was so locked into the moment.</p><p>“I don’t know how I did it,” Doncic noted. “Because when I was watching that video, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m playing this game.'”</p><p>Now at this point, it’s basically common knowledge that Doncic didn’t want to be traded away from the Mavericks. Nico Harrison and company didn’t like his workout habits, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/nba-rumors-mavericks-didnt-like-lazy-luka-doncic-drank-beer-smoked-hookah">didn’t like his hookah habits</a>, and didn’t believe that he could consistently reach his athletic ceiling in the pursuit of winning a championship. They believed that becoming a defense-first team with Anthony Davis as their top star was a more sustainable strategy in the short term, and they even traded away players like Quentin Grimes to add players who fit that mold, like Caleb Martin.</p><p>Could this strategy ultimately hold true? Will the Mavericks win the big one before the Lakers, even if AD seemingly has a much shorter runway than Doncic? While only time will tell, as Doncic prepares to leave the American Airlines Arena, the bitterness of his trade remains firmly in the mouths of the Mavericks faithful.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic drops bittersweet message for Mavericks fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-sends-fans-frenzy-nuclear-45-point-game-dallas-return');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic sends fans into frenzy with nuclear 45-point game in Dallas return');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-4.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic sends fans into frenzy with nuclear 45-point game in Dallas return</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T19:43:24-07:00">April 9th, 7:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T19:43:24-07:00">April 9th, 7:43pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is a Senior Editor and College Sports Lead at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers picked up a very important 112-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night that is huge in their quest for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. However, the game meant <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-lebron-james-hugs-luka-doncic-tribute-video">more than that for Luka Doncic and company</a>, as the star guard was making his return to Dallas for the first time.</p><p>The pregame scenes were tear-jerking. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-tears-video-tribute-dallas-return">Doncic was holding back tears during a pregame tribute video</a> that the Mavericks played for him on the Jumbotron, and Mavericks fans serenaded him with “Luka” and “MVP” chants throughout the night, with some “Fire Nico” chants mixed in as well.</p><p>On the floor, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-explodes-unreal-first-quarter-mavericks">Doncic showed no ill-effects</a> from all of the extracurriculars. He went at the Mavericks on Wednesday night, going off for 45 points on 16-for-28 shooting and 7-for-10 from 3-point range. In the win, he also added eight rebounds and six assists.</p><p>While Doncic went off on his former team against an adoring road crowd, <a href="https://x.com/Boweman55/status/1910138641088667989" rel="noopener">fans on social media</a> couldn’t believe their eyes.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nico Harrison being escorted out of the arena right now after Luka doncic 31 pt at halftime while the guy he traded for has 4 points  <a href="https://t.co/oFotPY52M9">pic.twitter.com/oFotPY52M9</a></p><p>— John (@iam_johnw) <a href="https://twitter.com/iam_johnw/status/1910131418212020580?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The more points Luka Doncic scores should be the same amount of security Nico Harrison should have leaving the arena tonight.</p><p>— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) <a href="https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/1910130730698510834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">anthony davis is playing like the version of luka doncic that nico harrison leaked to the media</p><p>— Josh Bowe (@Boweman55) <a href="https://twitter.com/Boweman55/status/1910138641088667989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Mavericks fans were going through all of the emotions watching Doncic on Wednesday night, just like he was on the floor playing in front of them after so much time away. As cruel as it may have been, Doncic was giving them a taste of what they had been missing in the two months without him.</p><p>Doncic had everything in the arsenal rolling for the Lakers on Wednesday night. Crisp, no-look passes landed cleanly in the hands of open Laker shooters to set them up with open looks. Probing, methodical drives to the basket and tough finishes in traffic, with a masterful understanding of space and body control. Doncic even had the stepback 3 going, making him almost impossible to guard for even the best that the Mavericks had to offer.</p><p>Of course, this comes as a surprise to nobody after watching Doncic dominate anyone who ended up on his bad side over the years. It was inevitable that he would have an epic performance like this <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/mavericks-news-jason-kidd-nico-harrison-patrick-dumont-luka-doncic-trade">in front of Nico Harrison and the Mavericks’ ownership</a>. The Mavericks fans, most of whom were cheering him on anyway, ended up as collateral damage in another Doncic masterpiece.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic sends fans into frenzy with nuclear 45-point game in Dallas return

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/trae-young-drops-bold-take-on-luka-doncic-mavericks-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Trae Young drops bold take on Luka Doncic Mavericks trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mavericks-news-Trae-Young-drops-bold-take-on-Luke-Doncic-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Trae Young drops bold take on Luka Doncic Mavericks trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T19:22:55-07:00">April 9th, 7:22pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T19:22:55-07:00">April 9th, 7:22pm</time><address><a>Lorenzo J Reyna</a>Lorenzo J Reyna has joined ClutchPoints as Associate Editor of NFL &amp; NCAA Football. He's equipped with past experience for both realms through his recent stops at Pro Football Network and Heavy while also writing for 247Sports. His Twitter/X handle is @LJ_Reyna and his Instagram is @lj_zo_rey.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Luka Doncic walked out of the American Airlines Center visitors locker room for the first time ever. The former Dallas Mavericks star made his emotionally charged return in front of his first NBA fan base, this time with the Los Angeles Lakers. NBA All-Star Trae Young, however, dropped a bold take before the opening tip.</p><p>Young <a href="https://x.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1910123216900628917" rel="noopener">only needed five words</a> to grab fans’ attention online. Here’s what the Atlanta Hawks star shared.</p><p>“He was never gonna leave…” Young posted on X.</p><p>Young revealed his belief that Doncic wanted to remain in Dallas. He never believed Doncic orchestrated the trade and told the Mavs he wanted out. Still, Mavs general manager Nico Harrison delivered the shocking February trade that sent Doncic over to the Lakers.</p><h2><b>Trae Young watched Luka Doncic go off on Mavericks in return</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Los-Angeles-Lakers-guard-Luka-Doncic-77-reacts-during-the-first-quarter-against-the-Dallas-Mavericks-at-American-Airlines-Center.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Young and the Hawks had the night off before taking on the Brooklyn Nets. So Young joined the rest of the world in watching the highly-anticipated Dallas homecoming for Doncic.</p><p>And Doncic delivered one epic scoring night — showing retribution in front of the GM who sent him away. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-explodes-unreal-first-quarter-mavericks">Doncic dropped 31 points before halftime</a>. The newest Lakers shooter and passer even added further insult to Harrison and the Mavs on the floor. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-hits-step-back-3-pointer-anthony-davis">Doncic nailed a step-back three-pointer that sailed over Anthony Davis</a>. The 2020 NBA champion Davis was part of the stunning deal Harrison orchestrated with the Lakers.</p><p>Doncic’s Lakers eventually pulled away. Los Angeles rolled to the 112-97 romp of the Mavs. The Lakers held Dallas to only 40 combined second half points.</p><p>Doncic exploded on the same floor where he brought a Western Conference title banner back one year ago. He scored 45 points on his old pals on 16-of-28 field goal shooting. Doncic nailed seven baskets from behind the arc. He lured down eight rebounds and dished six assists. Doncic got showered with a “Luka!” chant after taking the win.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Luka Doncic comes to the bench during a timeout after tying his season high with 45 points and his Laker teammates joined in on the “Luka! Luka!” chant from the crowd. <a href="https://t.co/Q7O0ohzX9J">pic.twitter.com/Q7O0ohzX9J</a></p><p>— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1910151070438895626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Doncic now has the Lakers one win away from securing their 50th regular season win. Los Angeles sits at third in the Western Conference standings. The team that sent him to L.A., meanwhile, is 38-42 now.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Trae Young drops bold take on Luka Doncic Mavericks trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-hits-step-back-3-pointer-anthony-davis');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic hits step-back 3-pointer over Anthony Davis');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Los-Angeles-Lakers-guard-Luka-Doncic-77-reacts-during-the-first-quarter-against-the-Dallas-Mavericks-at-American-Airlines-Center.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic hits step-back 3-pointer over Anthony Davis</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T17:48:41-07:00">April 9th, 5:48pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T18:26:44-07:00">April 9th, 6:26pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Los Angeles Lakers superstar <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-fans-erupt-dallas-6-word-luka-doncic-post-lakers-game">Luka Doncic is back in Dallas on Wednesday</a> for his first game to play his former team for the first time since the Dallas Mavericks sent him to LA in a shocking three-team trade last February.</p><p>His return to Dallas is an emotional one, perfectly summed up by the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-tears-video-tribute-dallas-return">tears that flowed down his face when the Mavericks played a tribute video</a> for him before the game at his old stomping grounds, the American Airlines Center. But when it was time to hit the court, Doncic seemingly set aside his emotions and put all his focus on trying to help the Lakers beat the Mavericks.</p><p>In one of the most notable moments, at least in the first half of the contest, the 26-year-old Doncic toyed with the defense of Mavs big man Anthony Davis, the centerpiece of the trade package that Dallas got in the said trade.</p><p>With the ball in his hands and Davis in front of him, Doncic created separation by pulling off a tough stepback before letting it fly for a 3-point attempt that found the bottom of the net. Dallas fans inside the arena, despite the Mavericks being behind by two points after that shot, loudly cheered as though Doncic was still playing for their team. It must have been a bittersweet moment for them.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Luka Doncic buries the stepback triple over Anthony Davis 🔥<a href="https://t.co/tkyVZeWiAD">pic.twitter.com/tkyVZeWiAD</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1910121339194585301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In any case, Doncic played in the first half like a man on a mission. By the half, the former NBA scoring champion had already <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-explodes-unreal-first-quarter-mavericks">put up a total of 31 points</a> on an 11-for-16 shooting from the field with six 3-pointers on eight attempts. He entered the game with an average of 27.6 points in the 2024-25 NBA regular season. Doncic also had three rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 19 minutes before the half to help the Lakers erect a three-point lead after two quarters.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic hits step-back 3-pointer over Anthony Davis

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/is-nico-harrison-at-luka-doncics-return-to-dallas');   ga('set', 'title', 'Is Nico Harrison at Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Is-Nico-Harrison-at-Luka-Doncics-return-game-to-Dallas.jpg"></figure><h1>Is Nico Harrison at Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T17:30:41-07:00">April 9th, 5:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T18:56:50-07:00">April 9th, 6:56pm</time><address><a>Lorenzo J Reyna</a>Lorenzo J Reyna has joined ClutchPoints as Associate Editor of NFL &amp; NCAA Football. He's equipped with past experience for both realms through his recent stops at Pro Football Network and Heavy while also writing for 247Sports. His Twitter/X handle is @LJ_Reyna and his Instagram is @lj_zo_rey.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Dallas Mavericks witnessed the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-tribute-video-fans-feelings">emotions run high before opening tip on Wednesday night</a>. The Los Angeles Lakers were in town – and brought past beloved Mavs star Luka Doncic in tow. But his return left many watching the game wondering, where is general manager Nico Harrison in all this?</p><p>Many fans, including television cameras, scoured throughout American Airlines Arena searching for the Mavs’ GM. Hoops Central helped answer the whereabouts of Harrison. The GM <a href="https://x.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1910119043132190972" rel="noopener">was seen hiding among a crowd</a>. Except he got spotted near a tunnel entrance.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-tears-video-tribute-dallas-return">Doncic shed tears before the game</a> as a video played honoring his Mavs contributions. Harrison, though, wasn’t well received by his own home crowd afterward.</p><h2>Mavericks fans hand Nico Harrison harsh treatment</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luka-Doncic-3.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The former Maverick Doncic was the one cheered the most. The franchise even honored Doncic before the game <a href="https://x.com/dallasmavs/status/1909985661769150896" rel="noopener">with specialized shirts made for fans</a>.</p><p>Harrison received more harsher treatment.</p><p>NBA reporter Grant Afseth captured this scene from the press row: Maverick fans showering Harrison with “Fire Nico” chants.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Loud “Fire Nico” chants from the American Airlines Center crowd as Mavericks GM Nico Harrison watches from the tunnel. <a href="https://t.co/wDE6YOSL9u">pic.twitter.com/wDE6YOSL9u</a></p><p>— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/GrantAfseth/status/1910117312960544801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Doncic even <a href="https://x.com/Gatorade/status/1910060328974491754" rel="noopener">helped drop a new commercial</a> ahead of his much-anticipated Dallas return via Gatorade. The ad shows Doncic dribbling the basketball while sitting down. But as Doncic gets up, the caption reads “No Love Lost.” Many fans took it to mean Doncic threw shade at his former GM.</p><p>Harrison gained former Lakers NBA champion Anthony Davis and multiple draft picks as part of the epic deal. But the move sent shockwaves throughout the NBA and sports world, especially on Harrison’s end.</p><p>The 52-year-old Harrison dealt away both a perennial All-Star and the floor general who guided Dallas back to the NBA Finals one year ago. Harrison’s team is currently 38-41 overall and sitting at 10th in the Western Conference standings. The Lakers, meanwhile, are 48-31 overall and sitting at third in the conference ahead of the postseason.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Is Nico Harrison at Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-fans-erupt-dallas-6-word-luka-doncic-post-lakers-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks fans erupt on Dallas’ 6-word Luka Doncic post during Lakers game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/A-view-of-a-fan-wearing-a-modified-Mavericks-jersey-to-display-the-number-of-Lakers-guard-Luka-Doncic.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks fans erupt on Dallas’ 6-word Luka Doncic post during Lakers game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-09T17:28:50-07:00">April 9th, 5:28pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-09T18:51:36-07:00">April 9th, 6:51pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The day of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-how-dallas-honor-luka-doncic-lakers-return">Luka Doncic’s return to his old stomping grounds</a> has finally arrived. Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers are playing the Mavericks this Wednesday night, with emotions running high, especially for Dallas fans, who are watching the Slovenian superstar and their team’s former franchise player see action at American Airlines Center for the first time since his shocking February trade to Los Angeles.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-how-dallas-honor-luka-doncic-lakers-return">Mavericks prepared for this day</a> as well. Of course, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-hugs-crying-luka-doncic-tribute-video">they had a tribute video ready</a> for the 26-year-old star, who led them all the way to the NBA Finals in 2024.</p><p>Dallas also posted that video on the team’s social media platforms, including Instagram, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DIPrEAltWsW/?hl=en" rel="noopener">with the following caption</a>: “Forever our brate. Thank you, 77.”</p><p>However, the post was not received generally positively by the fans, with many boldly expressing their strong feelings about general manager Nico Harrison, the trade and the whole act of welcoming Doncic back to Dallas.</p><p>“Send Nico to Mars, and when he needs an extension, give Luka a billion dollars as an apology for selling the soul of the city,” said a fan.</p><p>Another one said, “Send Nico to jail.”</p><p>“The social media team needs to get a clue!!!” an angry fan shared.</p><p>“All don’t deserve to post him,” a comment read.</p><p>“If he was Forever ours, we shouldn’t have traded him,” chimed in another social media user on Instagram.</p><p>Doncic played his first six-plus seasons in the NBA with the Mavericks, and during his memorable time in Dallas, he won the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year award, earned five NBA All-Star nods, became an NBA scoring champion, and, as mentioned earlier, appeared in an NBA Finals.</p><p>Despite all those accomplishments and his still huge ceiling and potential to do more in the league, Doncic was sent by the Mavs to the Lakers before last February’s NBA trade deadline via a three-team transaction that also involved the Utah Jazz. In return, the Mavericks got a package that centered on big man Anthony Davis.</p><p>In 422 regular-season games played in Dallas uniform, Doncic averaged 28.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.2 assists while posting a 46.7 percent shooting from the field.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
22.0	8.3	6.8	0.5	1.8

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
22.0	8.3	6.8	0.5	1.8

Luka Dončić news

Luka
Dončić news