Grading Luka Doncic's earth-shattering Lakers revenge game against Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks played in one of their most unprecedented situations in franchise history on Wednesday night, as Luka Doncic returned to Dallas with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Mavericks ultimately lost 112-97, as the Lakers went on a late fourth-quarter run spearheaded by Doncic and LeBron James that Dallas simply couldn't overcome with their lack of shot creation.

The Mavericks only scored 40 points in the second half, as they are desperately awaiting the return of Brandon Williams after he signed a standard two-year deal that will go into effect on April 10. Dallas needs another ball handler back in the lineup terribly right now, and with Dante Exum surprisingly being ruled as active in this game, Jason Kidd could've played Exum, but opted to conserve him coming off of injury.

Of course, the Mavericks could've easily had Doncic as their lead guard in this game had Nico Harrison not made one of the worst trades in the history of professional sports, and Doncic consequently made Harrison pay the price in every way possible. It was an emotional start to the game for Doncic after Dallas played a tribute video for him during the Lakers' player introductions, but he quickly hit the ground running once the game started. Here, we grade Luka Doncic's return to Dallas with the Lakers.

Grading Luka Doncic's Lakers return to the American Airlines Center

Barring a 45-point performance versus the Milwaukee Bucks in a loss on March 13, this was likely Doncic's best game since joining the Lakers. Doncic stunted any of Harrison's reasons for trading him in this contest, as he was moving great on both sides of the ball and looked to be in great shape. Doncic was penetrating into the teeth of Dallas' defense at will, no matter who was guarding him, and his legs were into all of his shots from outside.

Doncic played great defense and did a phenomenal job with his ball denial on Anthony Davis when he was matched up with him. Overall, Doncic finished with 45 points on 16-28 shooting from the field and 7-10 shooting from outside to go along with eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals. This was his most prolific performance of the season, and he was getting showered with applause by Mavericks fans after every score.

Doncic doesn't shy away from the biggest of moments, as the Mavericks know all too well, and he stepped up in a game where practically the entire NBA world was watching to see what would happen. While this game's atmosphere clearly wasn't ideal for Dallas' players, they understood the magnitude of this game between Doncic and Dallas' fans, and Doncic gave Mavericks fans a performance for the ages.

However jarring it was to see Doncic make the type of plays he once made in a Mavericks uniform in the purple and gold instead, Mavericks fans will never forget the memories and performances Doncic had while he was in Dallas, and tonight was a way for Mavericks fans to pay homage to Doncic one last time before this season is over.

Doncic easily out-dueled Davis in this contest, who was obviously the main centerpiece in which Harrison traded him for. Doncic had a signature moment in the first quarter by nailing a step-back 3-pointer over Davis, and that was a microcosm of how this game and trade have gone for Davis and the Mavericks, as Davis finished with 13 points on only 13 shot attempts.

Dallas struggled to get Davis in advantageous situations without Williams in the lineup, but the Lakers effectively took Davis out of this game with their physicality and ball denial in the middle of the floor, and Davis's impact paled in comparison to Doncic's in this game. This will be a game Mavericks fans never forget, and Harrison's ill-sighted move seems like it will only get worse as the Lakers get better and Doncic continues to take his animosity out on Dallas in future matchups.