The Los Angeles Lakers improved to 27-17 in this 2025-26 NBA season with a 116-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Saturday. Luka Doncic shone in his second game back in Dallas since the shocking trade, and Lakers head coach JJ Redick stated postgame that he loved his play on the defensive end down the stretch.
“We counted after the game, he had six straight stops where they targeted him,” Redick said. “Just a fantastic job from him, and then makes sort of the game-sealing defensive play with the charge on [Naji] Marshall. He was fantastic in the fourth quarter and just picked apart their defense down the stretch.”
The Mavericks kept targeting Doncic, and the strategy just did not work. They had a 102-87 lead with seven minutes remaining, and all those empty possessions helped the Lakers get back in the game.
“I thought he did a great job of containing the basketball,” Redick stated. “Being physical with his first bump outside the paint.”
As for the other end, the Mavericks were sending multiple defenders at Doncic, and he made them pay for it with his playmaking. Redick had urged the Slovenian to trust the pass after Thursday’s 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, and he liked how he responded to the challenge.
“Luka wants to win, and so I’m not surprised that he [responded well],” Redick said. “A+. I mean, he played a fantastic game, and he orchestrated things for us early to get us the lead, and then he orchestrated things for us late, and he just continued to make the right play over and over. Had a lot of confidence in his teammates, and his teammates responded with some big-time shots.”
Doncic finished with 33 points (8-15 FG), eight rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, and one block against the Mavericks. When asked postgame about how he thought he responded to Redick’s comments after the Clippers game, he pointed to his shot attempts.
“Yeah, I mean, everybody had a great game,” Doncic said. “The ball was shared. I had what, 15 shots up? So, take JJ’s point.”
Doncic certainly was letting go of the ball more than he had previously. The 26-year-old needs to keep at it, as it is a lot tougher for defenses when the ball is moving around, which was the case in the fourth quarter. Rui Hachimura ended up getting some open looks thanks to the ball movement, and he helped bury the Mavericks.
As mentioned earlier, this was Doncic’s second game back in Dallas after the Mavericks traded him to the Lakers in February 2025. He got very emotional that night, even breaking down in tears, but that wasn’t the case here.
“It was still emotions, trust me, but a little bit better, a little bit easier for me,” Doncic stated. “Obviously, like I said before, how the fans accept me here, it’s unbelievable. I still got a lot of friends here, players, some other people. So, I’m happy to be back a little bit.”
Doncic is now 2-0 on the road against the Mavericks and 4-0 overall. They just haven’t been able to find a way to beat him, but will get two more cracks at it later this season.
We’ll see Doncic in action next when the Lakers take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Monday at 8 PM ET.
