LeBron James closes out Mavs as Luka Doncic posts triple-double in revenge game

LeBron James put up 16 points, five rebounds and an assist in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 107-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks. With the Mavericks making a desperate rally late in the final minute, James iced the game by stealing P.J. Washington's tip on a jump ball, then diving to the hoop for an easy layup off Doncic's 12th assist.

James finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. He got some help from Doncic, who continually found his All-Star teammate for easy buckets.

Doncic logged his first triple-double as a member of the Lakers, finishing with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. He already had a double-double at halftime, clearly fired up to be playing against the team that unceremoniously dumped him last month. Not only did Doncic stuff the stat sheet early, but he stared down the Dallas bench — or possibly the Mavericks executives behind the bench — after his lone three-pointer.

It was a big win for Doncic and for the Lakers, who moved into fourth place in the Western Conference, which would give them home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. And it was a big loss for the Mavericks, who fell into ninth place and face five difficult matchups in their next six games.

Doncic sent Dallas a message Tuesday night. James sent a message to the rest of the NBA that the Lakers still have two superstars.