The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers played in LA on Tuesday night, marking the first time these two have played each other since the trade deadline. That meant Luka Doncic was going against the Mavericks after three weeks of having his name dragged in the mud by Dallas’ front office, and people expected him to have a massive performance.

Doncic delivered early, coming out with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the first quarter. He could’ve had 12 but had a three wiped off the board because his heel stepped out of bounds on a step-back over a double-team. His scoring would slow in the second quarter, but he’d still go into halftime with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, two steals, and two blocks.

READ MORE: Lakers fans troll Nico Harrison, Dallas Mavericks midgame for trading Luka Doncic

According to the TNT broadcast, Luka Doncic became the first player ever to have at least 12 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, two steals, and two blocks in a half since the play-by-play tracking started in 1996. It wouldn’t be Luka Magic if he wasn’t doing something special, and he did that in the first half of this matchup.

The Lakers and Mavericks played an emotional and physical game, with Doncic taunting the Mavericks bench after a big shot in the first quarter. But Jason Kidd continued to adjust his defenses around Doncic and LeBron James, and that made life tough on drives. It’s been a one-possession game for a lot of the fourth quarter.

READ MORE: Luka Doncic trash talks Dallas Mavericks bench after scoring flurry for LA Lakers

Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2024-25 Season

Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey on Twitter