The Lakers lost 100-112 to the Knicks tonight at the Madision Square Garden as Luka Doncic faced off against his former teammate from the Mavericks, Jalen Brunson.
Following the game, both sides were greeting each other on the court when Doncic approached Brunson and showed him the middle finger before shaking his hand.
Luka Doncic just gave the bird to Jalen Brunson in their postgame dap up.
Mavericks fans are heartbroken seeing this 💔 pic.twitter.com/Caeh4F6ka7
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) February 2, 2026
The two players still seem to be friends, as they shared multiple encounters on the court where it was evident how much they were enjoying facing each other.
Luka Doncic cooks Josh Hart and then points to Jalen Brunson just after.
Former teammate love ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WGKDcdjvSM
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) February 2, 2026
Doncic spoke about Brunson as well during his press conference and showed appreciation for the position Brunson has put himself into.
“I mean, great, I owe him, he’s my guy. We came to the league together, same team. But he deserves this; he deserves to be in this spot because he’s been amazing,” said Doncic.
From pushing each other before the game to laughing while guarding one another and more, it was clear that the two former Mavericks players are still close.
Luka Doncic was laughing at Jalen Brunson while locking him up 😭 pic.twitter.com/SS5sbvscSt
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) February 2, 2026
Even after the game, Brunson was asked to talk about what it was like to face Doncic. Today marks one year since Doncic was traded to the Lakers. Therefore, the reporter asked Brunson how it feels to see Doncic in the Lakers’ jersey instead of the Mavericks’.
“Definitely weird,” said Brunson on seeing Doncic in the Lakers’ jersey. “I think we all expected him to be in Dallas for the longest time. Now he’s a Laker, and he’s playing great and still doing the things he does.”
Doncic finished the game tonight with 30 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 10-23 from the field (43.5 FG%) and 5-14 from beyond the arc (35.7 3P%).
Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson turned into a key facilitator tonight instead of focusing on scoring. He ended up with 12 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds while shooting an inefficient 4-15 from the floor (26.7 FG%) and 2-6 from beyond the arc (33.3 3P%).
But Brunson got the last laugh tonight as the Lakers’ defense was focused on him, which allowed three other players to score 20+ points tonight to lead the Knicks to a win.
After a strong showing from others on a night when the Lakers’ defense locked Jalen Brunson down, other players stepped up and executed perfectly to extend the Knicks’ winning streak to six consecutive games.
The Lakers have fallen to 29-19 following this loss and will head to Brooklyn and face the Nets on Tuesday (February 3) in their final game of an eight-game road trip. They are currently the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
The Knicks have improved to 31-18 and sit comfortably as the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They will now head to Washington to face the Wizards on Tuesday as well.
