After an emotional 45-point showing in April, Luka Doncic makes his second return to American Airlines to face his former team on Saturday.
Is it just another game?
To Dallas Mavericks fans, the answer will always be "no".
And to Luka Doncic himself, that's true, as well.
Ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers star's return to American Airlines Center to face the Mavs for just the second time since his infamous trade in February, Doncic spoke candidly about the emotions that describe playing against his former team.
"Obviously, it’s always going to feel like home there,” Doncic told reporters after the Lakers' last game, a loss to the cross-town rival Clippers on Thursday.
That was never truer than the first and only time Doncic has played infront of his old friends while wearing the purple and gold. It was April 9, 2025, and after shedding tears during an emotional tribute video at pregame introductions, Doncic lit up Dallas with 45 points.
Says Luka: "I needed that game to move on a little bit. But obviously, I’ll always appreciate those fans."
Those same fans will brave a potentially dangerous winter freeze on Saturday to make the trek to the AAC and witness what could be an encore from the Slovenian superstar.
With Doncic leading the league in scoring at 33.4 points per game, him on the court brings just as much magnitude to the game as the nostalgia of his history in Dallas.
"It’s really hard to stop Luka," Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said this week. “He’s doing everything to help his team win. You just try to make it tough. Try to make him work on the defensive end and then hopefully, he doesn’t make a big shot, but he loves the stage. He always delivers when they need a shot."
Doncic has willed the Lakers to a 26-17 record and fifth-place standing in the West entering Saturday. He's posted averages of 7.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists along the way, too, to shoulder the load while Austin Reaves is injured and LeBron James shows signs of a physical decline in Year 23.
Beyond the stats, Kidd's reference to Doncic's habit of rising to the occasion is spot on. Mavs fans fondly remember countless examples of that, but so do his former teammates.
"Y’all seen Luka throughout the years. Y’all know he gets up for moments like this," Mavs winger Naji Marshall said. "You know what time he’s on. So it’s on us to do the best we can to come out with a victory."
On the contrary, the Mavs remain out of play-in tournament positioning at the moment. A season-long four-game winning streak, however, suggests that a trade deadline move just might make Dallas a team that could sneak into the postseason, which would be remarkable given how they looked to start the season.
Marshall's season-high 30 points helped the Mavericks to its most recent outcome in this win streak, a 123-115 comeback effort against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
The Lakers have lost three of their last five games, but the records and trends are irrelevant. Nothing will stop the NBA from building this matchup into one of the game's biggest spectacles, hence why it is a weekend nightcap of the league's Rivalry Week campaign.
Said Marshall about Saturday's biggest billing as a spotlight game on ABC primetime (7:30 p.m. CST): "Everybody’s gonna want to see Luka, and just to be able to share the floor with Luka is a true blessing.
"That’s my brother and I know he’s on the opposite team and we want to win, but I just want to see the best happen for him throughout the rest of his career.”
Another player who's joined Marshall in contributing to these wins for the Mavericks has been Max Christie, who is on a three-point rampage in his first full season with the Mavs. Of course, Christie was included in the Doncic trade alongside Anthony Davis and a future draft pick.
At this point, Christie has turned from a throw-in piece to the Mavs' best return from the swap. He is shooting the three ball at 45.7 percent, which would be a Mavs single-season record if the year ended today.
How are Max's feelings entering Saturday's game against his former team?
"No extra emotions. It’s going to be fun to see my old coaching staff and old teammates, but it’s just another game."
There's at least one person who can say that.
