Luka Doncic, Lakers show potential of team in how they beat Mavericks 

Luka Doncic welcomed his former team to his new NBA home on Tuesday night, helping the Lakers beat the Mavericks 107-99. 

While some may argue the win doesn't mean as much with Anthony Davis unavailable for Dallas, Los Angeles' performance showed a glimpse of its true potential with Doncic in the fold. 

Doncic only scored 19 points, shooting only 35.3 percent from the field, but he did accomplish a triple-double. The Mavericks may have achieved their goal of not letting the star they shipped off weeks ago beat them, but Doncic and his new team were still able to outsmart his old club nonetheless. 

"It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep," Doncic told reporters postgame. I can't even explain it. It was a different game. Sometimes I don't know what I was doing." 

Doncic, who averages 26.4 points per game and was coming off a 32-point outing in a big win over Denver, didn't need a monster offensive night against Dallas. He did exactly what he needed to do and his teammates supported him exactly how they needed to as well.

Part of his triple-double came with 12 assists, which was significantly higher than his per-game average of 7.7. The Mavericks often double-teamed Doncic, having two defenders instantly shift onto wherever he was on the court. But it didn't matter. 

Doncic trusted his teammates and found other players like Austin Reaves for open looks. Reaves scored 20 points and Rui Hachimura had 15 of his own. 

Of course, LeBron James stepped up with Doncic unable to dominate offensively and even enduring a poor shooting night. Doncic connected on only 6-of-17 attempts from the field and 1-of-7 attempts from three, letting out a scream while staring right in the direction of the Mavericks bench after his lone three-pointer. 

James, though, scored 27 with 12 rebounds and three assists himself. James has been on a scoring tear as of late, posting 25, 40 and 26-point games since returning to action after sitting out the All-Star Game. 

Doncic's presence has opened space for James and allowed the 40-year-old legend to play without having to have the ball in his hands as much as in Los Angeles' prior incarnation. 

It's still fair to want to see more games before crowning this new-look Lakers team, but it's also clear the Lakers can find ways to win and be successful no matter how any opponent tries to game plan against them. 

With its recent win streak, Los Angeles is 35-21 and sitting in the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference standings. Dallas is now at 31-28 and has fallen to ninth. 

It will now be interesting to see where these teams, forever connected thanks to one of the most shocking trades in league history, are when they meet again on April 9, this time with Doncic returning to Dallas.