Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic is happy that the much-anticipated match against his former team Dallas Mavericks is behind him. The Lakers registered a 107-99 win on Tuesday and Doncic played a key role in the victory.
The Slovenian also became only the third player to record a triple-double against every NBA franchise. Doncic scored 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to join teammate LeBron James and Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook as the only players to score a triple-double against all 30 teams.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” he said of the game coming only 3½ weeks after he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers. “I can’t even explain [it]. It was a different game. … Sometimes I don’t know what I was doing.
“And I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
Doncic shot 6-for-17 from the field (1-for-7 from 3) whereas LeBron James scored 27 points, out of which he scored 16 points in the final quarter.
Doncic reckons this game will help Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison move on from the trade. Mavericks fans were calling for Harrison’s sacking after the shocking move.
“It definitely will help me,” Doncic said of putting the game behind him. “It’s definitely going to help in the long [run].”
James reckons Doncic was able to perfectly handle the match against the Mavericks as it must have been an emotional game for him.
“Obviously there’s a lot of emotion that goes in when you give so much to a franchise and you sacrifice for a franchise and you have that type of love and respect for a franchise — throughout all the journeys,” James said of Doncic. “They went to the Finals, all that stuff. He’s grown from being an 18-, 19-year-old kid to now a 25-year-old man with a family. … And when you move on or they move on from you, it’s very emotional, obviously. It’s very taxing.
“It’s probably a lot of things that were going on in his head that probably didn’t even involve the game itself. And with that said, I thought he handled it tremendously.”
The Lakers will next take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday.
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