Category: Basketball

Warriors' haunting loss to Spurs recalls shades of pre-Butler days originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The issue most responsible for the Warriors’ midseason mediocrity, patched masterfully for two months after the arrival of Jimmy Butler III, sustained its first tear Wednesday night.

For the first time since Butler arrived, the Warriors fumbled a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter when San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes drained a game-winning 3-pointer that sent the Warriors trudging into the locker room with a 114-111 loss to the Spurs that could haunt them the rest of the season.

The loss, the Warriors’ second in three games, dropped them from sixth place to seventh in the Western Conference standings with a 47-33 record. They are squarely in the pit they hoped to avoid: NBA play-in tournament quicksand.

“We know where we at,” Stephen Curry said. “We know that every game is important. It’s been important about the last two weeks, and we’ve done a lot to give ourselves a chance to climb pretty high considering where we were before trade deadline. And [losing] these last two home games sucks, like for different reasons.”

It quickly became apparent that another obstacle to victory that Butler had nullified suddenly resurfaced. When Curry sat, leads evaporated. It happened in the second quarter, when a nine-point lead disappeared in three minutes. It happened again in the fourth, when that 12-point lead was trimmed to four in less than three minutes.

“Couldn’t get a stop,” Draymond Green said. “Couldn’t get into nothing good offensively, couldn’t get a stop.”

Curry sat for six minutes in the first half and five minutes in the second half, and San Antonio was plus-16 over those 11 minutes.

“That was key to the game, top of the second, top of the fourth,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We played two great quarters, first quarter and third quarter. And then both of those quarters, top second, top four, they blitzed us.”

The Spurs in the fourth quarter torched Golden State’s defense for 38 points, on 72.2-percent shooting from the field, including 70 percent beyond the arc. Three turnovers in the final 2:11 gave San Antonio enough opportunity to close it out.

“It didn’t happen in the fourth quarter,” said Green, who committed two of the late turnovers. “It happened in the second quarter. End of the first quarter, second quarter we just started giving up straight-line drives. They found a rhythm; that’s what happened. We found a way to get the lead back but we never … don’t mess around with games.”

Curry finished with a game-high 30 points, with Butler right behind him with 28 points – his highest total as a Warrior – with 13 coming in the fourth quarter. Golden State’s offense was satisfactory enough, but its defense did not hold up.

This was a particularly painful setback, as it came against a 13th-place Spurs team relegated to playing spoiler after losing eight of its last nine games. Moreover, the Warriors took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter before being clobbered 38-23 over the final 12 minutes.

The last time the Warriors kicked away a similar lead was on Feb. 5 – three days before Butler’s debut – when they lost an 11-point lead to the Jazz in less than three minutes in Utah. Both losses can be attributed to Golden State’s defensive shortcomings.

Mind you, the Warriors have been the league’s best defense since Butler came aboard.

“When you’re up 12 on to the fourth, your defense is really going to be the difference in maintaining that separation,” Curry said. “Who cares if you make or miss shots? You just can’t give a team life and give up 38 points.”

The Warriors still can lock up a top-six seed in the West by winning their final two games. If Minnesota wins at Memphis on Thursday, the Warriors move back into sixth place. If the Grizzlies win, Golden State is one game back of Memphis but holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Grizzlies then go to Denver to face the Nuggets on Friday on Part II of a back-to-back set.

Beating the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday and the Los Angeles Clippers would allow the Warriors to finish the season at 49-33. They would finish ahead of the Timberwolves, who already have 34 losses, and they would jump Memphis if its drops one of its last three games.

The Warriors no longer have full control of their destiny. They put themselves right where they don’t want to be, hoping someone above them tumbles back below.

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Kings must play ‘right way' in final stretch with NBA play-in looming originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – All the math and calculations are over.

The Kings are locked into the No. 9 vs. No. 10 seed game and will be facing the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA play-in tournament bracket. The only question remaining is whether the game will be played in California at Golden 1 Center or in Texas at American Airlines Center.

While Sacramento has two games left on the regular-season schedule, interim coach Doug Christie had an inkling that this would be the way things played out, so he sent assistant coach Will Scott to scout Dallas last week.

The Kings already had a good read on the Mavericks, having won all three head-to-head matchups between the two teams this season. That gives Sacramento the tie-breaking advantage should it come down to that.

It probably won’t.

The Kings finish the regular season with home games against the playoff-bound Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns, who have been in roll-over-and-play-dead mode for a while now.

Dallas closes out against a sub-.500 team in the Toronto Raptors before going on the road to play a hungry Memphis Grizzlies squad trying to improve its own playoff positioning.

Barring a complete meltdown, the Kings will play host to the Mavericks in that 9-10 showdown on April 16 at G1C.

While Christie has his staff already doing some advanced scouting, Zach LaVine said it’s important that the Kings focus more on themselves right now before turning their attention to the Mavericks.

“We understand we‘re going to play them, but we’re more worried about ourselves on how we can get in the right rhythm and continue to play good basketball,” LaVine told NBC Sports California after the Kings’ 124-116 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. “Even tonight with the loss, we played good basketball, gave ourselves a chance. We’re going to see [the Mavericks], we’re going to play them, but these next couple of games, let’s make sure we play the right way.”

In spite of Wednesday’s loss, the Kings left G1C with a fairly positive vibe.

After a rocky first half when it fell behind 66-58, committed six turnovers and allowed Denver to shoot nearly 47 percent from the floor, Sacramento got going after halftime and made the Nuggets sweat out the final few minutes of the night.

“That was a tough one,” Christie said. “We’re gonna have to lick our wounds and come back and be ready to get it it because the Clippers are going to be coming.”

Christie lamented the Kings’ inability to sustain their attack against the Nuggets, so he didn’t get overly excited about Sacramento’s surge in the final minutes.

It basically was lipstick on a pig, and Christie knows it won’t be good enough in the postseason no matter who the Kings line up against.

“There is a level that I’m going to demand that we play at,” Christie said. “The consistency at which you play at that level in this league determines the altitude, how high you fly in this league. If you’re up and down constantly, you’re probably going to take a lot of losses. If you do not reach that level, you’re going to get the hell beat out of you.

“We’re not here for that.”

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What we learned as Zach LaVine's 27 points not enough in Kings' loss to Nuggets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SACRAMENTO – Zach LaVine continued to rip it up offensively, pouring in 27 points with 11 assists in the Kings’ 124-116 loss to the Mike Malone-less Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center.

Malone, who previously coached the Kings, was fired by Denver on Tuesday, less than two years after guiding the Nuggets to their first and only NBA championship.

That might have lit a fire under the Nuggets, who had been spiraling down the Western Conference standings over the previous five weeks.

Denver led by 16, then held off a late Kings surge in the fourth quarter to complete the season-series sweep of Sacramento.

DeMar DeRozan had 22 points. Domantas Sabonis added 27 points and 11 rebounds while Keon Ellis had 20 points off the bench.

The Kings entered the day on a three-game winning streak. They conclude the regular season with home games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Sacramento is locked into the Western Conference’s 9 vs. 10 play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Kings hold a one-game lead in the standings and have the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Nuggets shot nearly 57 percent in the first half and had four players in double figures by halftime. Conversely, the Kings didn’t have anyone reach double figures in the first half but had four players with nine points apiece and went into the break trailing 66-58.

Here are the takeaways from Wednesday’s game:

It’s getting hot in here

With two regular-season games remaining, the Western Conference standings are tighter than a fat guy in skinny jeans.

Five teams are within two games of one another for the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. That is the final spot for homecourt advantage in the first round.

The Kings are locked into a play-in game and will play the Mavericks. The only remaining question is whether the game will be in California or Texas.

Keep it going, Z

It took a little while to find his rhythm, but LaVine got going once he warmed up and continued his recent scoring surge.

Since joining the Kings, LaVine has been a scoring machine. That was particularly true over Sacramento’s previous five games when he averaged 20.8 points while shooting a solid 47 percent from the floor. That included the last two games before Wednesday, when LaVine had 80 total points in wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.

The veteran guard started slow against the Nuggets, who limited LaVine to eight points in the first half. He finished minus-eight.

Doing the Dougie

Doug McDermott has played well off the bench this season and has had a few games where he provided instant and quick offense.

Wednesday was one of those games.

During a span of 150 seconds in the second quarter, McDermott canned a pair of deep 3-pointers and made a stellar alley-oop pass to LaVine from behind the 3-point arc.

The No. 11 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, McDermott has proven capable of getting things done quickly during his first season in Sacramento. He had a memorable night against the Utah Jazz in December when he dropped a season-high 18 points on six 3-pointers in eight and a half minutes. He also had 15 points in 11 minutes against the Nuggets in January.

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What we learned as Warriors suffer brutal loss on Barnes buzzer-beater originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Antonio Spurs are not the Phoenix Suns. 

Despite having nothing to play for in the standings, the Spurs weren’t going to back down. They also weren’t going to give up when Golden State led by as much as 14 points in the first quarter. What looked to be a blowout was a battle for all four quarters. 

Thursday night at Chase Center was a game of runs that wasn’t decided until former Warrior Harrison Barnes made a fadeaway game-winning 3-pointer to beat the buzzer as Golden State lost 114-111. In a season that has featured a handful of bad losses, this one tops them all for the Warriors.

SPURS WIN! SPURS WIN! SPURS WIN! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/MZcEqV193p

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 10, 2025

With the Warriors’ NBA playoff hopes coming down to the final day of the regular season, they couldn’t afford such a back-breaking loss. After outscoring the Spurs by 16 points in the third quarter, the Warriors were outscored by 15 points, 38-23, in the fourth.

Multiple miscues cost the Warriors down the stretch, including two turnovers in the final minute.

Steph Curry (30 points) and Jimmy Butler (28 points) carried the Warriors offensively, particularly in the second half. Draymond Green was one rebound and two assists shy of a triple-double, but two mental lapses defensively in the end were impossible to ignore. 

Curry was a plus-14, and no other starter had a positive plus/minus. The only other Warriors player to even have a positive plus/minus was Trayce Jackson-Davis, who was a plus-3 in three minutes.

Here are three takeaways from an inexcusable loss.

Up-And-Down Start

Playing the lifeless Suns one night prior, Warriors coach Steve Kerr commended his veteran stars – Curry, Butler and Green – for sending a message and setting a tone from the jump. On the second night of a back-to-back, the trio once again was locked in following the opening tip. 

The Warriors began the game on a 9-0 run, prompting a timeout from Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson. Their lead was extended to 11-0 after the timeout. When Johnson first pressed pause and tried to collect his team, Green already had two points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal as he swiped down and knocked the ball away from veteran center Bismack Biyombo. 

At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors led by nine points. Curry and Butler each had seven points, and Steph also swiped two steals. Green stuffed the stat sheet with five points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal. Their movement and precision highlighted how important this game was.

Then, a lackluster start to the second quarter saw Green put an end to a 7-0 Spurs run with a three at the top of the arc. But the Warriors couldn’t get going. The Spurs held a 12-3 advantage when Curry came back in, and then moved to 19-3. Golden State got outscored 32-19 in the second quarter, turning a nine-point lead into a four-point deficit.

While the Spurs turned the heat up, the Warriors went ice-cold in the second quarter, shooting 27.3 percent from the field (6 of 22) and going just 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) on threes.

Third-Quarter Switch Flipped

Remember what a staple the third quarter used to be for the Warriors? It’s where dreams became nightmares for opposing teams. Well, those 12 minutes might not be as dominant as they once were, but they do remain a strength of the Warriors. 

They came into the day having the seventh-best third-quarter point differential in the NBA, and found whatever boost was required at halftime in the locker room. The Warriors raced out to a 6-0 run in the third quarter and never slowed down, enjoying a 37-21 advantage for the quarter. Feeding Curry certainly helped. 

Curry scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and only connected on one of his five 3-point attempts in the first half. He found his rhythm in the third quarter. 

In just under 10 minutes, Curry scored 14 points, going 5 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 6 on threes. Rookie Stephon Castle was called for an off-ball foul from how much he held onto Curry, only for the greatest shooter the game has seen to then drain a trey right in front of him following the whistle.

End Of An Era? 

As Castle did his best to stick with Curry’s every move, Curry on the other side of the ball was in a matchup he has known his entire 16-year NBA career. He faced off against Chris Paul for the 40th time in the regular season, dropping to 23-17 in this rivalry between two point guards bound for the Hall of Fame. 

Paul is labeled as the pure pass-first point guard, as Curry’s unique style off the ball and shooting prowess makes him a whole other animal to handle. Through the first half, it actually was Paul who was the leading scorer of the two, 12-10, going a perfect 4 of 4 overall and 3 of 3 on threes. Curry’s huge third quarter, in which Paul went scoreless, seemed like it was going to change the script of this latest 48-minute movie. 

There were scenes of Paul goading Brandin Podziemski into an offensive foul and coaching his guys on the fly, as well as Curry igniting the home crowd with every 3-pointer that splashed through the nets. Some moments felt like flashbacks, others were a reminder of their long standing greatness to the game. Kerr said pregame he doesn’t expect Paul to retire after the season, and it’s easy to see why a team still would sign an undersized point guard who turns 40 years old in under a month. 

Just like when Curry plays LeBron James or any other legend, it was easy to appreciate what these two have meant to basketball for nearly two decades. And there’s another reason for Dub Nation to remember the days of loathing Paul.

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Celtics post best road record in franchise's history originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics fell to the Orlando Magic in their final road game of the 2024-25 season Wednesday night, but the defeat won’t keep them out of the franchise’s record books.

Their 33-8 road record this season is the best in franchise history. They came just one win shy of tying the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best road record in the history of the NBA.

That’s quite a feat, especially when you consider that Warriors team won a league-record 73 games in the regular season before ultimately losing to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

The Celtics also set a franchise record for the most road wins and best road win percentage in a season in franchise history.

1. 2024-25: 33-8, .805 win percentage
2. 1972-73: 32-8, .800
3. 1974-75: 32-9, .780
4. 2007-08: 31-10, .756
5. 1959-60: 23-9, .719

In addition to the records explained above, the Celtics also finished with a plus-9.3 scoring margin on the road, which currently ranks No. 3 all-time behind the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and this season’s Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have three road games remaining, so Boston could jump back to No. 2 all-time by season’s end.

1. LA Lakers, 1971-72: 11.3 road scoring margin
2. Oklahoma City Thunder, 2024-25: 9.6
3. Boston Celtics, 2024-25: 9.3
4. New York Knicks, 1969-70: 9.1
5. Chicago Bulls, 2007-08: 8.2

The Celtics did not secure homecourt advantage throughout the 2025 NBA playoffs. They’ll finish the regular season with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the third-best record in the league. The C’s wouldn’t have homecourt advantage if they met the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals and/or the Thunder in the NBA Finals.

So it’s encouraging for the Celtics that they are such a good road team and can play at a high level without the tremendous boost the TD Garden crowd provides. They might need to lean on their road dominance at some point in the postseason.

3 observations after Dowtin's career-high performance leads Sixers over Wizards  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

WASHINGTON — The Sixers snapped their skid and enjoyed a win Wednesday night in their road finale.

The team ended its 12-game losing streak by earning a 122-103 victory over the Wizards at Capital One Arena. 

Jeff Dowtin Jr. scored a career-high 30 points and Lonnie Walker IV added 24. 

The 17-63 Wizards’ top scorer was Tristan Vukcevic with 24 points. 

Justin Edwards (rib contusion) remained among the Sixers’ injured players. Tyrese Maxey (right finger sprain) was officially ruled out for the season before the game. Alex Reese exited in the fourth quarter with a right Achilles tendon strain and did not return.

The 24-56 Sixers will host the Hawks on Friday night. Here are observations on their win over the Wizards:

Bona strong vs. Sarr

The Sixers started nicely, taking a 10-2 lead with two Walker three-pointers sandwiched between a pair of Adem Bona dunks. 

Bona was eager to do damage in transition and gave the Sixers an ultra-athletic, high-leaping pick-and-roll threat. The rookie big man finished the first quarter with nine points on 4-for-4 shooting.

He was also good defensively against No. 1 overall pick Alex Sarr, tightly contesting shots without fouling. Bona does have a habit of cutting it very close on goaltends, but the Sixers definitely don’t mind his hunger for blocks. 

He picked up two more rejections Wednesday, extending his run of consecutive games with at least one block to 14. 

Dowtin lights it up  

The Sixers’ usual go-to guy late this season was ice-cold in the first half. At intermission, Quentin Grimes was 0 for 10 from the field. 

With Grimes sitting, the Sixers’ second unit played well early in the second quarter. Dowtin got his first NBA action since the Sixers’ March 26 loss to the Wizards and served as the backup point guard. The Sixers’ other subs were Ricky Council IV, Reese and Colin Castleton. 

Dowtin was the standout, tallying 11 points in the second quarter. He looked to be coasting to 13, but Dowtin somehow missed a completely uncontested layup after sneakily swiping a steal from Sarr. 

That play was a blip for Dowtin, who kept on rolling in the third quarter, He exploded for 11 points in a span of 85 seconds, capping his flurry by draining a deep, heat-check three. The Wizards called timeout and Dowtin grinned on his way back to the Sixers’ celebrating bench. 

Finally tasting victory again

Seeking their first win in over three weeks, the Sixers entered the fourth quarter with an 89-79 edge.

They played decent zone defense early in the fourth and continued to run much of their offense through Dowtin. The 27-year-old reached his new career high by knocking down a confident baseline jumper.

Walker also scored steadily. Fifty-three points over his last two games is not shabby at all for a player looking to prove that he deserves a stable spot in the NBA.

In the end, the Sixers didn’t have to conquer any late-game obstacles. They pulled away from the Wizards and, for the first time in a long time, were decisively better than their opponent. The team’s nightmarish season won’t end with a 15-game losing streak.

3 observations after Dowtin's career-high performance leads Sixers over Wizards  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

WASHINGTON — The Sixers snapped their skid and enjoyed a win Wednesday night in their road finale.

The team ended its 12-game losing streak by earning a 122-103 victory over the Wizards at Capital One Arena. 

Jeff Dowtin Jr. scored a career-high 30 points and Lonnie Walker IV added 24. 

The 17-63 Wizards’ top scorer was Tristan Vukcevic with 24 points. 

Justin Edwards (rib contusion) remained among the Sixers’ injured players. Tyrese Maxey (right finger sprain) was officially ruled out for the season before the game. Alex Reese exited in the fourth quarter with a right Achilles tendon strain and did not return.

The 24-56 Sixers will host the Hawks on Friday night. Here are observations on their win over the Wizards:

Bona strong vs. Sarr

The Sixers started nicely, taking a 10-2 lead with two Walker three-pointers sandwiched between a pair of Adem Bona dunks. 

Bona was eager to do damage in transition and gave the Sixers an ultra-athletic, high-leaping pick-and-roll threat. The rookie big man finished the first quarter with nine points on 4-for-4 shooting.

He was also good defensively against No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr, tightly contesting shots without fouling. Bona does have a habit of cutting it very close on goaltends, but the Sixers definitely don’t mind his hunger for blocks. 

He picked up two more rejections Wednesday, extending his run of consecutive games with at least one block to 14. 

Dowtin lights it up  

The Sixers’ usual go-to guy late this season was ice-cold in the first half. At intermission, Quentin Grimes was 0 for 10 from the field. 

With Grimes out, the Sixers’ second unit played well early in the second quarter. Dowtin got his first NBA action since the Sixers’ March 26 loss to the Wizards (he’d be sitting because two-way contract players can only be active for 50 games in a season) and served as the backup point guard. The Sixers’ other subs were Ricky Council IV, Reese and Colin Castleton. 

Dowtin was the standout, tallying 11 points in the second quarter. He looked to be coasting to 13, but Dowtin somehow missed a completely uncontested layup after sneakily swiping a steal from Sarr. 

That play was a blip for Dowtin, who kept on rolling in the third quarter, He exploded for 11 points in a span of 85 seconds, capping his flurry by draining a deep, heat-check three. The Wizards called timeout and Dowtin grinned on his way back to the Sixers’ celebrating bench. 

Dowtin, who’s from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, called it a “special” night. He had “30-plus” friends and family in attendance.

“Cousins, uncles, aunts, you name it,” he said. “Everybody wanted to show their support, and that’s big for me. I really appreciate them and I’m glad I was able to play a great game for them.”

Finally tasting victory again

Seeking their first win in over three weeks, the Sixers entered the fourth quarter with an 89-79 edge.

They played decent zone defense early in the fourth and continued to run much of their offense through Dowtin. The 27-year-old reached his new career high by knocking down a confident baseline jumper.

Walker also scored steadily. Fifty-three points over his last two games is not shabby at all for a player looking to prove that he deserves a stable spot in the NBA.

In the end, the Sixers didn’t have to conquer any late-game obstacles. They pulled away from the Wizards and, for the first time in a long time, were decisively better than their opponent.

The team’s nightmarish season won’t end with a 15-game losing streak.

“I feel like we’d been playing well lately,” Jared Butler said after posting 13 points, six rebounds and four assists against his former team. “I feel like we’d been playing the right way, playing with the right tenacity. It feels good to finally get a dub.”

Lakers' Luka Doncic gets emotional after watching Mavericks tribute video originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It appears Luka Doncic is still not over leaving Dallas.

Doncic was back playing basketball in Dallas on Wednesday — but not wearing blue and white.

The Los Angeles Lakers star returned to the city that drafted him for the first time since the blockbuster trade in early February, with the Mavericks playing a tribute video before tipoff to honor his contributions.

Doncic got emotional as the video continued.

To briefly recap, the Mavericks, led by general manager Nico Harrison, traded Doncic, a five-time All-Star, to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round pick.

The Mavericks, who made the 2024 NBA Finals but lost, have regressed since the move as Davis suffered a multi-week injury shortly after, followed by Kyrie Irving’s torn ACL, among other notable injuries.

Meanwhile, Doncic has been vital to Los Angeles’ resurgence toward the top of the Western Conference. Now partnered with LeBron James, Doncic leads the Lakers in points, rebounds, assists, steals, 3-pointers and plus-minus since the move.

Doncic did play the Mavericks once prior to Wednesday, but it came in Los Angeles on Feb. 25. Doncic had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in the Lakers’ 107-99 win.

Along with the tribute video, the Mavericks also laid out shirts for fans in attendance. A white shirt with black lettering, it read “Thank you for everything” in Slovenian.

Lakers' Luka Doncic gets emotional after watching Mavericks tribute video originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

It appears Luka Doncic is still not over leaving Dallas.

Doncic was back playing basketball in Dallas on Wednesday — but not wearing blue and white.

The Los Angeles Lakers star returned to the city that drafted him for the first time since the blockbuster trade in early February, with the Mavericks playing a tribute video before tipoff to honor his contributions.

Doncic got emotional as the video continued.

To briefly recap, the Mavericks, led by general manager Nico Harrison, traded Doncic, a five-time All-Star, to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round pick.

The Mavericks, who made the 2024 NBA Finals but lost, have regressed since the move as Davis suffered a multi-week injury shortly after, followed by Kyrie Irving’s torn ACL, among other notable injuries.

Meanwhile, Doncic has been vital to Los Angeles’ resurgence toward the top of the Western Conference. Now partnered with LeBron James, Doncic leads the Lakers in points, rebounds, assists, steals, 3-pointers and plus-minus since the move.

Doncic did play the Mavericks once prior to Wednesday, but it came in Los Angeles on Feb. 25. Doncic had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in the Lakers’ 107-99 win.

Along with the tribute video, the Mavericks also laid out shirts for fans in attendance. A white shirt with black lettering, it read “Thank you for everything” in Slovenian.