Dallas comeback crumbles as Dončić's late poise, defense, and crucial charge seal Lakers victory.
DALLAS — Luka Dončić no longer needs emotion to define his returns to Dallas. Control has proven more than enough.
Dončić delivered a two-way closing stretch Saturday night as the Los Angeles Lakers erased a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit and stunned the Dallas Mavericks 116-110 at American Airlines Center, finishing the game on a 29-8 run that quieted a crowd bracing for a long-awaited home victory.
The Lakers leaned on Dončić’s poise, defense and late execution to flip a game that Dallas appeared to have firmly in hand. Dončić scored, facilitated and then sealed the outcome by drawing a decisive charge in the final minute, punctuating another composed return to the building where he once served as the franchise centerpiece.
Dallas erased a double-digit halftime deficit with its best stretch of basketball this season, dominating the third quarter with pace, pressure and physicality. The Mavericks outscored Los Angeles 35-14 in the period and carried an 88-79 lead into the fourth before pushing the margin to 93-79 less than two minutes into the final quarter.
Then the control disappeared.
The Mavericks struggled to generate quality offense down the stretch, finishing the fourth quarter with one assist and no fast-break points as Los Angeles tightened defensively and capitalized on second chances. Dallas missed shots, turned the ball over and failed to get stops as the Lakers steadily chipped away.
“We put ourselves in a great position to win a close game,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “But defensively we couldn’t get stops, and offensively we didn’t convert late.”
Los Angeles set the early tone by forcing mistakes. Dallas committed five turnovers in the opening quarter, and Dončić scored 12 points as the Lakers closed the period on a 16-8 run to take a 37-28 lead. By halftime, Los Angeles led 65-52 behind Dončić’s pressure-heavy approach, repeatedly getting to the free-throw line and controlling the possession battle.
The Lakers never panicked after Dallas’ third-quarter surge. LeBron James said patience mattered as the game tightened.
“Sometimes the game is a game of runs,” James said. “We knew we had time. About six minutes left, we started to make that push and were able to close it.”
The closing stretch centered on defense. Dallas repeatedly went after Dončić late, testing him after a heavy offensive workload. The Lakers tracked the results closely.
“We counted after the game — he had six straight stops where they targeted him,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Then he makes the game-sealing defensive play with the charge.”
That play came with 41.8 seconds remaining, moments after Dončić scored to extend the Lakers’ lead. Asked which moment he enjoyed more, Dončić didn’t hesitate.
“The charge,” he said. “For sure.”
Rui Hachimura delivered the biggest offensive swing of the fourth, hitting a three while being fouled and following it with another triple to flip the lead. The Lakers cleaned the glass, converted free throws and closed with composure as Dallas’ margin evaporated possession by possession.
Dončić finished with 33 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, shooting 8 of 15 from the field and 14 of 15 from the line. Beyond the numbers, the night reinforced how his Dallas returns have evolved.
“There are always emotions,” Dončić said. “But this is always going to be a special place for me.”
The loss snapped a season-high four-game winning streak for Dallas, which fell to 19-27 and faced a weather-disrupted turnaround into a back-to-back. The Mavericks controlled the game for long stretches, but the final minutes exposed the thin margin between command and collapse.
On this night, the finish belonged to Dončić and the Lakers.