Apr 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) knocks the ball away from Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) during the third quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

3 takeaways from Mavericks loss to Luka Doncic, Lakers

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Luka Doncic made his first return to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night since the dumb decision to trade him in February, and he led the LA Lakers to a 112-97 win over his former Dallas Mavericks. His emotions were flowing early and that poured into his play, clearly playing with the most energy of anyone on the floor.

Outside of Naji Marshall and Daniel Gafford, no one played like their season was potentially on the line. Anthony Davis was noticeably quiet in this game, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds on 5/13 shooting. For being the primary return from the Luka Doncic trade, it's not the performance you wanted from him.

Here are three takeaways from this loss.

1. What LeBron James is doing is amazing

LeBron James is 40 years old and in year 22 in the NBA and still is able to take over the 4th quarter when he needs to. He had 13 points in the 4th on 6/10 shooting, controlling the game after the Mavs came back to take a brief lead. Overall, he finished with 27 points, and a lot of them came from just playing smart basketball, cutting behind the defense, and saving energy for when he needed to explode to the basket. It's amazing watching him play.

2. Luka Doncic is still amazing, and it's a shame he's gone

Luka Doncic did not deserve to be traded or be treated by the Mavericks the way he was in the immediate aftermath of the trade. That man still loves the city of Dallas and its fans, and he gave them a show with 45 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. It was like watching last year's playoffs but with tears in our eyes because we'll never see it on the Mavericks again. All because of a power-hungry man.

3. The Mavericks lost the trade

Well, duh. But it was apparently obvious in this. The Lakers were feeding off of Luka Doncic's energy, while Anthony Davis had no energy. Even if you argue that Davis playing through injury, so is Luka Doncic. And he basically doubled what AD and Max Christie combined to score. What about the defensive impact? Doncic had four steals, matching the steals AND blocks Davis and Christie combined for. People who try to be optimistic will say that there is still plenty of time for history to decide the victor, but there is no timeline where this trade would've been beneficial for the Mavericks. The trade stunk when it was made and it has somehow only gotten worse.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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