Luka Doncic made his second return to American Airlines Center to face the Dallas Mavericks organization he spent nearly seven All-NBA seasons with, and his 33 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds were enough to spark a furious second-half comeback that helped the Los Angeles Lakers escape with a 116-110 win, stunning a Mavs crowd that braved the elements to attend the primetime footnote of the NBA's "Rivalry Week".

"Spectacle?" Sure. But the term "rivalry" is somewhat of a stretch considering the team's matchups over the last year.

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Doncic is now 4-0 when playing against his former team since his trade to the Lakers in exchange for Max Christie and Anthony Davis in early February of last year.

The Lakers responded to a Mavs run in the third quarter with one of their one to claw back into the game in the fourth and end the Mavericks' season-long four-game win streak.

Los Angeles got down by as many as 15 points in the second half, but two threes from Rui Hachimura allowed LA to retake the lead at 108-106 with two minutes remaining. The Mavs never had a counter.

We dive into the "Studs and Duds" by starting with the man of the hour.

Did you expect anything else?

Doncic got down to business quickly with 11 points in the first quarter and 17 points, six rebounds and seven assists by halftime.

The All-Star point guard was in full control of the Lakers offense early, initiating ball movement that allowed Los Angeles to build and sustain a lead for much of the first half.

There was no ceremonial welcome on the videoboard this time around, but MFFLs still braved the dangerous driving conditions to welcome their beloved star back to the city where his career began.

Doncic's Lakers started the second half slow, but a few Doncic baskets stopped a 16-0 Mavs run in the third quarter. Los Angeles would then kick things into high gear in the fourth quarter, but in a one-man spectacle that will always feel more nostalgic than present, Doncic gave the people what they wanted.

The Lakers built a first-half lead as large as 14 off of eight three-pointers in the first two quarters. Los Angeles averages just 12 made threes per game at 34.8 percent shooting, both 23rd-best in the league this season.

For the game, the visitors hit 14 threes on 41 percent.

Doncic's gravity makes a big impact on how fast defenses can rotate, but for a Mavs defense that ranked second in made three-pointers allowed per game entering Saturday, this was a disappointing way to let the opponent stick around and ultimately mount a comeback.

A strong run in the third quarter allowed the Mavericks to trim into early the deficit and build a big scoring advantage of their own. It came largely thanks to the player many think is the heir-apparent to Doncic in Dallas, star rookie Cooper Flagg.

The No. 1 overall pick posted a well-rounded stat line of 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists and started looking for his shot more in the second half while still making the right reads to set up his teammates.

Dallas used a 16-0 scoring surge to momentarily retake the lead as the score seesawed into the fourth quarter. The Mavs matched their largest lead of the game with an and-one drive from Brandon Williams and a put-back layup by P.J. Washington on the missed free throw to go up by four with 2:20 remaining in the third.

The Mavs led 87-79 after out-scoring the Lakers 35-14 in the third quarter.

But the game flipped on it's head from there.

The run could only do so much as the Lakers stormed back as if the wintry weather outdoors was inspiration.

Los Angeles used a 29-8 run in the final moments to ultimately decide the outcome as the Mavs ran out of time to do anything about it. Naji Marshall’s floater in the last 10 seconds was Dallas' first field goal in the prior seven and a half minutes.

A Doncic layup and charge taken on the other end with under a minute left all but wrapped things up.

Dallas was out-scored 37-23 in the final period.

Take a look at ESPN's win-likelihood chart, and notice the Texas Giant-like climb upwards in favor of the Lakers.

Williams was the catalyst of most of Dallas' offense out of halftime and finished the game with an effective 20 points on 8 of 17 shooting off the bench, but he went cold in the most inopportune time late in the game.

Christie was solid again for the Mavs with a team-high 24 points and four made three-pointers against his former team, though he spoke pregame about his emotions not matching those Doncic discussed regarding The Trade.

At times this season, we've seen two-way pass-first point guard Ryan Nembhard steal minutes from the slashing ball-handler Williams, but tonight B-Will's scoring punch was vital for a Mavs offense that didn't get into a groove until he started filling it up ... and we saw what happened when his scoring stalled.

What could have been.

With a win, the Mavs could have built a five-game win streak that would've been the longest since Doncic's trade to Los Angeles. Coincidentally, this stretch of momentum has still come without the help of the supposed centerpiece from that swap in Anthony Davis, who is out indefinitely with a hand injury.

The Mavs will look to restart a win streak ahead of the much-anticipated NBA trade deadline on Feb. 5 when they travel to visit Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks for a back-to-back on Sunday Jan. 25.