MANILA – Anthony Davis’ return in the basketball court made him witness how the Dallas Mavericks crushed his team, the Los Angeles Lakers to a 115-110 beating on Thursday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Luka Doncic tallied 30 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists for the Mavericks. Kristaps Porzingis added 19 markers before leaving the game in the second half.
Josh Richardson and Willie Cauley-Stein have 13 and 11 markers, respectively. Dwight Powell and Dorian Finney-Smith have 10 points each for the Mavericks, which improved to a 32-26 slate.
Holding to a 62-51 halftime lead, the Mavericks saw its advantage transformed to an 83-79 deficit. Doncic spearheaded the attack to regain a 94-90 edge heading to the fourth quarter.
Dallas widened the lead to 110-101 with shots from JJ Redick and Cauley-Stein. Los Angeles rallied to within four but free throws by Jalen Brunson secured the victory for the Mavericks.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope top-scored with 29 points while Dennis Schroder added 25 points for the Lakers (35-24). Davis ended with just four points and four rebounds in his first game with LA after two months.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee Bucks (36-22) send Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers (39-20) to its third consecutive defeat with a wire-to-wire 124-117 victory.
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded double-double 27 points and 16 rebounds, while Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis chipped in 24 and 23 markers, respectively, for the Bucks.
Joel Embiid finished with 24 points. Shake Milton added 20 markers as the slumping 76ers dropped to a tie with the Brooklyn Nets on top of the East Conference.
In other results, Boston Celtics (32-27) prevailed over the Phoenix Suns (42-17), 99-86, New Orleans Pelicans (27-33) edged Orlando Magic (18-42), 135-100.
BOX SCORE:
DALLAS 115 – Doncic 30, Porzingis 19, Richardson 13, Cauley-Stein 11, Powell 10, Finney-Smith 10, Hardaway 8, Redick 7, Brunson 7.
LOS ANGELES 110 – Caldwell-Pope 29, Schroder 25, Drummond 14, Harrell 14, Kuzma 8, Caruso 5, Davis 4, Morris 4, Horton-Tucker 4, McLemore 3.
QUARTERSCORES:
31-26, 62-51, 94-90, 115-110./PN
