Luka Doncic shrugged off the raw emotion of his return to Dallas with a dazzling 45-point display against his former club as the Los Angeles Lakers downed the Dallas Mavericks 112-97 to punch their ticket to the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.
Doncic, who joined the Lakers as part of a trade with the Mavericks in February in one of the most shocking moves in NBA history, was given a rousing reception by the fans who packed into the American Airlines Center to pay tribute to their former hero.
A pregame video montage was screened in the arena just before Doncic was introduced to the sellout crowd of 20,841 fans, many wearing t-shirts bearing the words "Thanks for Everything," written in the 26-year-old's native Slovenian.
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