Luka Doncic sounded relieved to have his first game against the Dallas Mavericks behind him after the Los Angeles Lakers won 107-99. Doncic became the third player in NBA history to record a triple-double against every NBA franchise with his 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. While the Mavericks managed to limit Doncic’s scoring output by employing a number of double-teams, he had the best statistical game across the NBA on Tuesday.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” said Doncic. “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 processed being around his former teammates while also competing against them.
“It definitely will help me,” Doncic said of putting the game behind him. “It’s definitely going to help in the long [run].”
Doncic stared down the Mavericks’ bench on multiple occasions.
“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,” LeBron 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.”