Luka Dončić posts first triple-double with Lakers as L.A. tops Mavericks in first meeting since trade

It certainly wasn’t the cleanest of nights for Luka Dončić as he faced his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, for the first time on Tuesday since he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the biggest — and most controversial — transactions in NBA history. 

“I couldn’t make nothing today,” Dončić joked afterward, and while that wasn’t quite true, he certainly had an unlucky night as a scorer. His best shot of the night, a stepback, end-of-the-shot-clock 3-pointer from the left wing with two Mavericks in his face, got wiped off the board with replay because he stepped out of bounds. He didn’t fare much better on the shots that did count, ultimately finishing 6 of 17 from the floor for 19 points.

But when the dust settled, the Lakers emerged with a 107-99 victory as Dončić contributed in just about every other statistical area. He finished the game with those 19 points, but 15 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and two blocks. That stat line gave him his first triple-double as a Laker, and it also puts him in exclusive company as just the second Laker ever to finish a game with 15 or more points and rebounds, 10 or more assists and multiple blocks and steals. The only other Laker to do so? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Those steals and blocks recognize the effort he has played with defensively. Los Angeles entered Tuesday’s contest allowing a meager 105.8 points per possession with Dončić on the floor defensively, a figure that held up against Dallas.

It was, in a way, a microcosm of Dončić’s early experience with the Lakers. It hasn’t always been pretty. The numbers aren’t as consistently gaudy as they were in Dallas or as they will be with time in Los Angeles. But he’s slowly figuring out where he fits in with this Lakers team, and the early results are undeniably promising.

Having LeBron James and Austin Reaves as teammates certainly helps when it comes to offensive acclimation. James led all Laker scorers with 27 points, with 16 of those notably coming in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles fended off a shorthanded Dallas team that turned what was once a 15-point deficit into just a one-point game entering the fourth quarter. That continues a trend that has emerged early in Dončić’s tenure with the Lakers. 

Since Dončić arrived, James has scored 53 fourth-quarter points to Dončić’s 13, and while that imbalance won’t sustain, it makes sense in the moment. Dončić is working his way back into shape after a lengthy absence that came from a calf injury. James is a perfectly capable closer. 

After a recent loss to Charlotte, Dončić acknowledged that they will figure out the balance eventually, but that game circumstances will dictate how those late-game situations play out. “I think it will go both ways,” he said at the time. “One time it’s going to be him, one time me. So I think it depends how the game is going.” 

Right now, it makes more sense for James to handle the scoring late in games. As Dončić settles in, that is a burden he will be able to take off of the 40-year-old James’ shoulders. Reaves averaging a career-best 19.2 points per game doesn’t hurt either.

For the first time in Dončić’s career, he’s playing on a roster that doesn’t demand 30 points out of him every single night. The Lakers have no shortage of shot creation, and on an emotional night in which Dončić didn’t quite have it as a scorer against a team that knows him better than any others, his teammates were able to lift him up in that specific area. He handled the rest, and the Lakers walked away with yet another big win over a Western Conference rival.

And on an emotional level, Dončić is just relieved this one is over.

“I think in the first quarter, second quarter, I didn’t know what was happening. It was just different. I can’t even explain how it felt,” he said postgame. “I can’t wait to go to sleep honestly.”