After their front offices put on a show at the trade deadline, the visiting Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers will try to rise to the occasion on the court Tuesday and settle their differences.
Their league-shaking trade that leaked late on Feb. 1 made Luka Doncic the Lakers’ star of the future while Anthony Davis tries to help the Mavericks’ immediate playoff goals.
Yet only half of the trade’s major components will be on the court Tuesday. As Doncic continues to round into form with the Lakers following a calf injury, Davis is out for the time being with a left adductor strain. Both players brought existing health issues to their new teams.
Continuing to put his calf strain in the past, Doncic had his best game as a member of the Lakers in a convincing 123-100 victory — on the road, no less — against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Doncic had a Lakers-high 32 points and added 10 rebounds in the victory.
The Lakers are 2-2 since Doncic has been on the court alongside fellow star LeBron James.
“You can see it, me smiling on the court, having fun,” Doncic told reporters after the victory over the Nuggets, while admitting there has been an obvious adjustment period.
James was impressed with Doncic’s improved play.
“He was very locked in on what he wanted to do out (there),” James said. “He was just dialed in on what he wanted to do and how he wanted to execute his game plan individually.”
While Doncic has averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in a Lakers uniform, James has averaged 28.7 points with 8.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists in seven games since the deal was announced.
Los Angeles guard Austin Reaves continues to flourish with 23.9 points, 6.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds in nine games in February.
Davis made Mavericks fans feel somewhat more comfortable about the unpopular trade when he scored 26 points with 16 rebounds in his Mavericks debut on Feb. 8. But he left that game early with a recurrence of his abdominal injury and hasn’t played in the five games since.
After winning their last two games before the All-Star break, the Mavericks have gone 1-1 in their return, including a 126-102 road loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
P.J. Washington and Kyrie Irving each scored 17 points in the loss, while Dallas was outrebounded 54-41 and committed 18 turnovers that were turned into 30 points. Now, the Mavericks face the Lakers, whose 15 steals against the Nuggets on Sunday were a season high.
Along with taking care of the ball, Dallas must turn its attention toward stopping what figures to be a motivated Doncic.
“Outside of just the obvious of us being in LA and (the Mavericks) being a former team of Luka’s, obviously the narrative is already written,” Irving said. “I don’t know what else I can really add to that. I’m pretty much focused and telling my guys just to focus on a high-level game that we got to win.”
Said Washington: “It’s Luka and we know how good he is. … He’s tough to contain, tough to slow down. But we’re just going to have to go out there and give it our best shot and, hopefully, we’ll come out with a W.”
–Field Level Media
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