DALLAS — Luka Doncic was added to the Mavericks’ lengthy injury report Tuesday afternoon, about a dozen hours after the team’s flight from Memphis landed. Heading into the second night of a back-to-back, he was officially listed as questionable to face the Los Angeles Lakers with a lower back contusion, but any number of ailments could have been mentioned.
“I don’t know how I played,” Doncic said after leading the Mavs to a 127-125 home win Tuesday night. “I slept very little today. Everything hurts. I’m getting old, man, but we got two back-to-back wins, which is amazing, especially against a team like the Lakers. So I’m really proud of these guys.”
Doncic, 24, dominated despite all the bumps and bruises and a steady diet of double-teams. He finished with 33 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists, outdueling 38-year-old LeBron James (33 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) before getting the all-time scoring leader’s autographed jersey to add to his collection.
Tim Hardaway Jr. missed three of the previous five games with back spasms, but he returned to score 32 points against the Lakers after sitting out against the Grizzlies. Starting power forward Grant Williams also made a major contribution in his return from injury, scoring 19 points after missing the previous three games with a bone bruise in his right knee.
“I was going to come out aggressive, knowing how they were defending Luka,” Hardaway said. “I just had to try my best to just put a stamp on the game.”
Doncic played 43 minutes Tuesday night after a 35-point, 8-rebound, 6-assist, 44-minute performance in Monday’s road win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Since missing his only game of the season when he became a first-time father, he has been on a phenomenal five-game run, averaging 35.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 12.4 assists to lead the short-handed Mavs to a 4-1 record. Dallas (15-8) has moved up to third place in the Western Conference standings.
“The thing is for him to learn how to rest on offense when he gets double-teamed, and that’s what he’s doing,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s getting double-teamed at the top of the floor, and he’s trusting that once he does that, it’s advantage basketball.”