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JJ Redick's Luka Doncic Message Before Mavericks-Lakers

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Garret Schnitker | Last updated Feb 24, 2025 5:18 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are preparing for their first matchup against the Dallas Mavericks since the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks, amongst others. The highly anticipated contest will be played in Los Angeles at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.

With Davis is out due to injury, the focus will primarily be on Doncic for this game. The Slovenian superstar is fresh off his breakout game with the Lakers, supplying 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and a block in the blowout win against a familiar Western Conference foe, the Denver Nuggets.

The Mavericks will be shorthanded being that Davis remains out due to the abdominal injury he suffered with the Lakers before re-injuring it in his debut with the Mavs. Not to mention, they will also be without the impressive center duo, Daniel Gafford (grade three MCL sprain) and Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture).

Ahead of this game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick had praise for his new superstar when talking about his ability on the court.

"Part of what makes him brilliant is he makes the game easy for everybody else," Redick said of Doncic,

JJ Redick on Luka Doncic:

“Part of what makes him brilliant is he makes the game easy for everybody else.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 24, 2025

This commonly known trait of Doncic’s is one of the best abilities of his new superstar teammate LeBron James. The Lakers now have two primarily ball-dominant playmakers who can easily spread the floor and get teammates wide-open looks as they look to ascend up the Western Conference standings.

Although the main attention will always certainly be toward James and Doncic, the third and fourth options for LA have also been playing well.

Final

Luka: 32 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast, 4 stl
Bron: 25 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast, 3 blk
AR: 23 pts, 4 reb, 7 ast
Rui: 21 pts, 4 ast pic.twitter.com/QrpiqTY3gI
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 23, 2025

Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura have established themselves as high-level role players, serving as important complementary pieces to James and Doncic.

This season Reaves has averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.3 rebounds, while Hachimura has averaged 13.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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