Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably watching last season’s World Series games for the 44th time. Let’s get right to the news.
From Dan Woike: The Lakers fans and the Mavericks fans cheered. Because they were Luka Doncic fans.
The uniforms were Lakers purple and gold. They were Dallas navy and Mavericks retro green. They were from the Slovenian national team and a Spanish club.
All had the same name across the back.
They cheered when he touched the ball and erupted when he made his first shot. They booed when he traveled and stood and applauded when he checked out.
Even though he was now a visitor, the Mavericks crowd reminded Doncic at every opportunity that they felt this still should be home.
They showed it before Wednesday’s game, lining the court to watch him go through his routine an hour before tipoff. They showed it during introductions, roaring as he was introduced as a Laker for the first time in Dallas after a two-minute tribute video.
And they showed it each time the Lakers went to the free-throw line early in the game by chanting “Fire Nico,” the words that have come to define the Mavericks’ season after general manager Nico Harrison dealed Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick.
Doncic repaid the fans with the kind of show they’d seen countless times, scoring 31 of his 45 points in the first half of the Lakers’ 112-97 win. The victory assures the Lakers of a top-six seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
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