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Luka Doncic · April 9, 2025’s spectacle against his former team might’ve began with heartfelt embraces and teardrops, but as is often the case with Luka Dončić, the forecast also called for 45-point rainstorms and almost-one-of-a-kind offense along the way. The recipe towards becoming just league history’s second-ever player to score 45+ for and against the same franchise in a single season was one that the Dallas Mavericks’ still-stunned crowd had come to know all too well over Dončić’s 472-game Texas reign. 3-point buckets — some built through immaculate footwork, others through mere spot-ups — crafty, almost “HORSE”-like shots around the rim, and ultimately, a final quarter takeover that vanquished any chance Dallas had of an upset. In what settled among 2024-25’s most-watched non-Christmas Day games, Dončić, through mixed emotions, treated fans of every allegiance to a 45-point, eight-rebound, six-assist, four-steal masterpiece in the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory. Paired with superb efficiency overall (16-of-28) and from downtown (7-of-10), Dončić again reaffirmed his status as a big-stage performer, eventually helping catapult L.A. to the No. 3 seed in the soon-arriving 2025 NBA Playoffs. · State of Mint