Luka Dončić gets his revenge vs. Mavericks, but ‘closure is going to take a while’

LOS ANGELES — It would be easy for Luka Dončić to say that Tuesday’s game was cathartic, that seeing and slaying his old mates wearing Dallas Mavericks jerseys would be enough to cleanse himself of all the hurt feelings from being dumped, from being duped.

It would be easy for every “Thank you Nico” chant coming from the Lakers faithful to fill Dončić up, to make him feel like one of them — even if doing it against the backdrop of Anthony Davis getting a warm welcome with his video tribute makes it feel just a bit awkward.

But it doesn’t work like that, not for either side. It probably won’t be like that in a few weeks either, when the Los Angeles Lakers will be sure to play their first-ever home game in Dallas when Dončić returns for first time since being traded.

“The closure is going to take awhile, I think,” Dončić said. “I don’t know, it’s just not ideal. Like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. It will go, little by little. Every day is better.”

Whatever this process is, it’ll be a slow burn and the Lakers have nothing but time in this instance. They’ve been slowly building a cohesive defense this season, slowly trying to figure out a way to maximize LeBron James’ remaining effectiveness and now have to detour to work in Dončić’s amazing talents before the postseason begins in two months.

Dončić’s triple-double is sure to be the first of many in a Laker uniform, as his energy paced the Lakers early against the Mavericks while James polished off the night with a fourth-quarter run.

The result was a workmanlike 107-99 win at Crypto.com Arena, in an emotionally charged atmosphere as almost all the energy was bracing for a Dončić explosion — one that unleashed all the hurt feelings, innuendo and betrayal Dončić has had to feel over the last few weeks. Almost predictably, Dončić was seemingly too hyped up for the game. The man was doing push-ups during his shooting session in pregame, as Nico Harrison sat cooly on the other side of the floor.

Harrison wasn’t hiding; the Mavericks head honcho was easily identifiable in an electric blue suit, unbothered by the prospect of Dončić seeking him out for some high-level expletives in whatever language Dončić decided.

The fireworks never truly materialized, but it was clear both teams were running on emotion and were almost bankrupt by night’s end when the Mavericks could’ve pulled off an improbable upset.

James has been through every type of stressful atmosphere as a pro, but he’s never been dumped by a franchise. James is usually the one doing the dumping, so there’s only so much he could do.

All James or his Laker teammates could do for Dončić was build an emotional wall around him, so he wouldn’t drown in his own anger toward his former franchise. Even Redick couldn’t help but call it weird, but he wanted everyone to embrace the discomfort.

“I thought he handled it well,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Not a great shooting night but he made a lot of plays. I just thought he was clearly worked up to start the game. That’s the expected but I thought he settled in.”

Aside from an early burst, when Dončić hit two shots in a row and barked at the Mavericks bench, he didn’t get out of control during this performance. His 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists indicated more of yeoman’s work rather than Picasso painting a masterpiece, as Mavericks coach Jason Kidd compared him to the latter in the pregame.

Dončić’s greatest satisfaction came late, when he and James began finding each other as James spotted up for a triple as a result of Dončić being doubled in the post. And he might as well have been getting a manicure in the corner when James found Rui Hachimura for a layup with a little over a minute remaining to seal the game — in fact, he was facing and chatting with the Mavericks bench when the play unfolded.

That’s the luxury he has in playing with James, who scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth, to go along with 12 rebounds and three assists. The luxury is returned for James, who doesn’t have to commandeer an offense for the better part of 35 minutes in order for his team to have a reasonable shot at winning.

At some point it feels surreal, let’s say if you’re Austin Reaves. One minute you’re receiving a perfect over-the-head pass from Dončić with impeccable spin at the 3-point line, and the next James is one pass away so you can cook to your heart’s desire against a team’s third best perimeter defender.

It’s a good way to make a living to score 20 points on 12 shots.

And perhaps it’s coincidence or just timing of the calendar, James has begun revving it up on both ends. Redick said James has been playing at an All-Defense type of level for the last six weeks — and the Lakers have been arguably the league’s best defense since the middle of January, with a 107.8 defensive rating.

“People may have perceptions of what he is as a defender. I watch him every night,” Redick said. “He doesn’t get scored on in isolation, when teams do try to target him. He blows plays up. He’s always in the right position, shifting, recovering. There’s a perception of him at his age, conserving energy. No. There’s no conservation of energy. He’s played good defense for awhile.”

Dallas plays good defense by trade, and even without Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II out there, it still made the game pretty competitive when everyone was expecting a blowout. If there’s any vindication for Harrison, it will have to come later if Davis and Lively are to be healthy and wrecking terror on offenses. Defense still wins in this league, and doing it with versatility and size is an added bonus.

Kyrie Irving was doing all he could to carry the offense (35 points), and a spurt from Klay Thompson had the game tied midway through the fourth before Dončić and James closed the evening.

“JJ said we have to get organized. Once we get organized we have a lot of weapons,” Dončić said. “[James], at 40 years old, it’s insane, to take over the fourth quarter. It’s surreal to watch.”

Dončić is still wounded by the trade, still hurt by the business of basketball rearing its head. You wonder if there’s a tinge of regret somewhere mixed in with the pride and betrayal, if the disconnect that obviously existed could’ve been rectified between himself and the people who decided it would be best to send him elsewhere.

The emotional exhaustion seems to suggest he hasn’t fully come to terms with everything that’s transpired, but then again there’s hardly any answer that would satisfy him considering everything he felt he was worth to that franchise.

Being a Laker, being embraced the way he’s been from the moment the transaction was announced probably gives him pause about the way he was treated during his time in Dallas. It’s enough to make one second guess himself, even the most confident type.

But confidence is building, ever so slowly. The pomp and circumstance will continue to grow, and so will the stakes.