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DALLAS – Luka Doncic was added to the long injury report of the Mavericks on Tuesday afternoon, about twenty hours after the team arrived from Memphis. Heading into the second back-to-back night, he was officially listed as questionable against the Los Angeles Lakers in an underdog, but could mention any illness.
“I don’t know how I played,” Doncic said after leading the Mavs to a 127-125 home win on Tuesday night. “I’ve had very little sleep today, I’m all sore, I’m getting old, man, but we’ve got two back-to-back wins, which is amazing, especially against a team like the Lakers.” , I am very proud of these guys. .”
Doncic, 24, dominated despite all the bumps and injuries and a steady diet of double teams. He finished with 33 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists, surpassing 38-year-old LeBron James (33 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) before adding to his collection.
With injuries affecting his rotation, Dallas Doncic needs to take on a heavy workload. Kyrie Irving missed both games with a sprained right heel that required a protective boot and the use of crutches. Key reserves Maxi Kleber (ankle) and Josh Green (elbow) are out for a long time. Derrick Jones Jr.’s junior debut. (quad) was injured in Memphis and sat out with the Lakers. Seth Curry, the backup at shooting guard, did not play in the second half because of a sore left ankle.
The sixth man is Tim Hardaway Jr. missed three of the last five games with back pain, but came back to score 32 points against the Lakers after sitting out against the Grizzlies. Starting power forward Grant Williams also played a big role in his return from injury, scoring 19 points after missing the last three games with a sprained knee. left.
“I’m going to come out, knowing the way they defended Luke,” Hardaway said. “I had to try my best to just put a mark on the game.”
Doncic played 43 minutes Tuesday night after a 35-point, 8-rebound, 6-assist, 44-minute performance in Monday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Since missing one game of the season as a freshman, he has been on a five-game hitting streak, averaging 35.2 points. , 9.2 rebounds and 12.4 assists to lead the shorthanded Mavs to an impressive 4-1 record. . Dallas (15-8) has moved into third place in the Western Conference standings.
“What he has to learn is how to relax the offense when it comes to double-teams, and that’s what he’s doing,” he said. Mavs coach Jason Kidd. “He’s double-teaming at the top of the floor, and he’s hoping that once he does that, he’s going to play better basketball.”
Dante Exum, who started in place of Jones, was one of the most successful of all the attention the Lakers paid to Doncic. He scored 26 points, surpassing his previous two-game high of 23, while shooting 7-of-9 from 3-point range.
The Lakers were game-planned to give Exum, who was 8-of-28 from 3-point range this season entering the night, a chance to force the ball out of his hands. of Doncic. It proved costly in the fourth quarter, when Exum scored 17 points, his highest in any quarter of his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“Whenever you play a guy like Luke who is very talented, he passes the ball very well, but he can definitely score as well, it’s difficult,” said the guard of the Lakers are Austin Reaves. “That’s the challenge when you have a guy like that on the other team that you’re trying to slow down with Exum, you’ve got to tip your hat to him. from 3 and tonight he will hit them seven. So, toss your hat and move on.”
Doncic assisted on six of Exum’s seven 3s, including four in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a left-handed dunk behind the head of Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes.
“I didn’t expect that pass to come, so I’m glad I hit it,” Exum said. “But that’s the thing about Luke trusting me, knowing that they’re going to help me and he just believes that if he throws it at me, I’m going to hit it. “