The NBA world was turned upside down on February 2 when the Dallas Mavericks swapped the five-time all-star Luka Doncic against the Los Angeles Lakers against Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future election.
The deal sent shock waves through the league, which led to a continued discourse on the effects of the deal in Dallas and the future for the Lakers, one of the most decorated franchise companies in the history of the league. The anger of the Mavericks fans broke out after the franchise questioned the conditioning and commitment of her former superstar on the way to Los Angeles, and Davis has another injury in the middle of his first game in Dallas, which has held him out since then , another injury.
The Lakers defeated the Mavericks on Tuesday 107-99 in the first matchup in which the teams were involved since retail. Doncic recorded a triple double when the victory was simply too much to stay up to date with the route.
Here are the most important findings from the top -class matchup.
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This was an extremely funny matchup, even if they put the great expectation of a “Luka Rache game” aside.
The Mavs showed a lot of pride defensively, and Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson flashed on the offensive brilliance to give Dallas a chance. But the Lakers clamped down and defended the route when LeBron James laid his foot on both ends on the pedal when it came to excluding things.
The massive media glare will always be there when it comes to Los Angeles. Especially when it contains two of the best heads of the NBA, LeBron and Luka. But it should also be fascinating to see what a Dallas squad in Dallas looks like with Anthony Davis in the playoffs and beyond. – Chris Herring
It was not nice or easy, but the Lakers finally came over the Mavericks in the first Luka Doncic Bowl. It was a game that showed the promise and questions about the new Lakers, and some signs of how Dallas could look at some point if the Mavericks can get well.
For Los Angeles, the combination of Doncic, James and Austin Reaves will be extremely difficult if they act against opposing defense. Only a few teams have three defenders who are good enough to work with the three primary Laker Ball handler – and to have a good defender, do not guarantee that they can slow them down.
But questions for the Lakers. Although Dallas was filmed quite well in this game from the 3-point range (17-for-44), the Mavericks have created a wide-open overview of another, and a better shooting opponent is more successful with the many clean attempts from deep have. During the game, Lakers coach Jj Redick complained about the work of his team on the defensive glass and understandably, the extremely short Mavericks 14 offensive rebound with Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II.
For Dallas it is a formula to have a large, physical list of the brilliant individual talents of Irving, which, if the Mavericks can get well, western conference. But the amount of injuries in the entire squad at the moment – plus the continued concern of Irving's back problems – could have the Mavericks in a dangerous position that is moving forward.
The best thing that works in the favor of the Mavericks in this front is the Suns – now losers of 10 of their last 13 games. That, together with Victor Wembanyama, which goes down for the season, essentially locked up the 10 playoff and play-in teams in the west.
However, the game is not where Dallas hoped when it decided to continue from Doncic. And the game is not where the Lakers will be after another victory that has improved them to 15: 4 in their last 19 games, and not only lets them think about the home advantage in the first round-also as possible- – Incredible – in the west until second place. – Tim Bontemps
2:18
Luka and LeBron combine for 57 in the Lakers' Rout from Nuggets
Luka Doncic drops 32 points and LeBron James adds 25 when the lakers remove the nuggets.
