The Los Angeles Lakers took care of the Dallas Mavericks, 112-97, April 9, in Luka Doncic's return to keep Phoenix in the play-in chase. Doncic scored 45 points in his first game in Dallas since the blockbuster deal before the 2024-25 trade involving Anthony Davis sent him to the Lakers.

The Suns are 35-41 in the standings for 11th in the West, which is one game behind the 10th-place Kings. Unfortunately for Phoenix, it also has a brutal schedule to end the year as one of the hardest in the league. So they’ll look to stack up victories against tough teams to even make the play-in tourney.

Before the game, Mavs coach Jason Kidd said some had compared the trading of Dončić to “Babe Ruth, which is kind of cool.”