In his entire career spanning more than 6 years in the NBA, Luka Doncic has never had to face the concept of “former team”. 

The Slovenian defender values ​​loyalty, wanting to follow the path laid out by his predecessor Dirk Nowitzki, another European superstar, who dedicated his entire career to the Dallas Mavericks.

But beyond Doncic’s control, Dallas Technical Director Nico Harrison decided to trade Luka to the Los Angeles Lakers three weeks ago.

Today (February 26), Luka Doncic in the purple and yellow Lakers jersey had his first encounter with his old team, the Dallas Mavericks. 

“Revenge game” is a concept that has been mentioned a lot by the online community in the past 24 hours, implying that Luka Doncic will show Dallas that trading him away was a mistake.

Then that became a reality when Doncic had his first triple-double with the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 19 points with 15 rebounds, 11 assists along with 3 steals and 2 blocks.

More importantly, the concept of “revenge” was realized collectively as the Lakers won 107-99 against Dallas. This result marked the 15th win in the last 19 appearances for the Los Angeles Lakers and the second consecutive defeat for the team from Texas.

LeBron James (27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists) and Austin Reaves (20 points, 5 assists) may have scored more points than Luka, but the No. 77 guard stole the spotlight on the day he faced his former team.

According to ESPN, Luka Doncic became the fourth player to have a triple-double in his first five games for the Los Angeles Lakers. The previous three names were Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and the legendary Magic Johnson.

And not only does he have impressive stats, Doncic also has many beautiful highlights with a series of assists that make fans restless.

For the second time since joining the Lakers, Luka made a no-look pass with a trajectory that flew behind his back to Austin Reaves for a 3-pointer.

Doncic also found LeBron James many times in quick counterattacks, switching roles for the 40-year-old superstar who is usually the passer rather than the receiver.

Luka Doncic also assisted on eight of the Lakers’ 11 successful three-pointers. Players who successfully made threes from Doncic’s passes included Jarred Vanderbilt, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.

Highlights of Luka Doncic’s triple-double against his former team Dallas Mavericks

On the Dallas Mavericks side, Anthony Davis’s absence due to injury created many difficulties in both offense and defense. Dallas’ offense was stalled many times and they were down by as much as 17 points at times. 

Thanks to the skillful hands of Kyrie Irving (35 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) and Klay Thompson (22 points, 5-11 3PT), the Mavericks were able to maintain their lead over the Lakers.

From a normal match, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks suddenly became a fateful match after the blockbuster exchange of Luka Doncic – Anthony Davis. 

The head-to-head record between the two teams is currently 1-1 as Dallas beat the Lakers earlier in January (118-97), then the LA team won today with a score of 107-99. 

The two sides will face off once more at the end of the Regular Season, specifically at 6:30 a.m. on April 10 at American Airlines Center, home of the Mavericks.