Luka Doncic’s return to play at the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers drew the largest non-Christmas NBA audience with an average of 2.26 million viewers.
The game had a peak audience of 2.79 million viewers and was up 71 percent against the comparable game from last year.
Doncic scored 45 points in the Lakers’ 112-97 win over the Mavericks. Doncic was emotional during the Mavericks’ pregame tribute video, but quickly responded with 31 points in the first half.
The Mavericks’ crowd cheered for Doncic throughout the game while Nico Harrison continued to draw the ire of the Dallas crowd.