Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishThe Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.There have been a lot of great announcers, but Kevin Harlan will forever be the GOAT to me. Who else could take a hilarious mistake in the ad read copy like this and make absolute gold out of it? Then, he does a great callback later on? Now I want chicken tenders sold in all cars. Genius!Old Stomping GroundsDončić’s Dallas return needed a therapy sessionThe game wasn’t inconsequential by any means, but in a way, the result of Luka Dončić’s first game back in Dallas after Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison shockingly traded him to the Lakers in February felt like the side story last night. The scene was set dramatically before the game even started.It wasn’t the seats throughout the American Airlines Center draped in off-white giveaway T-shirts that said, “Hvala za sve,” which is Slovenian for “Thank you for everything.” It wasn’t him greeting all of the familiar faces in the arena. It was the tribute video the Mavericks played during the introductions, saving Dončić for last.ESPN showed a shot of the video and a side-by-side shot of Dončić’s face watching it. Tears in his bloodshot eyes. His lip was quivering from holding back crying. He was bouncing his leg up and down like someone does when handling nerves. He kept wiping his face with a towel or just burying it in the towel altogether as he looked away from the video. He must’ve looked away four or five times.Then, he wiped his face one more time as they announced his name and the crowd erupted. Markieff Morris gave him a big hug. Dirk Nowitzki, in attendance, applauded him. LeBron James embraced him. Afterward, it was time to go to work. I almost didn’t notice that Dončić was off to a great start in the first quarter. He was scoring, but I didn’t register to what degree.I was too busy counting “Fire Nico” chants happening in the building when the Lakers were at the foul line. It started five seconds into the game. I was busy focusing on the crowd erupting whenever Dončić touched the ball, especially when he hit his first bucket, which was a floater about 1:20 into the game.The game itself ended up being mostly good. The Mavericks battled and tried to bully with their size advantage. It worked in spurts, but Dončić led the way with 45 points on 16-of-28 shooting from the field, making 7 of 10 from 3 and 6 of 9 from the line with eight boards, six assists and four steals. When he hit his final shot with 1:35 left, the Mavs called timeout. The crowd erupted for Dončić as he walked to the Lakers sideline.The Basketball 100The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process.The story of the greatest players in NBA history.BuyHe came back in for literally one more second of the game: JJ Redick had Dončić commit a take foul, so he could sub out and get one more standing ovation. The crowd went wild, chanting his name while the opposing Lakers cheered with them. It was the most expensive ticket in that building in 15 years, according to Mike Breen on the broadcast.The rest of the game, the Lakers bench stood up around Dončić as he sat down on the sidelines. It appeared as if they were both cheering and shielding him. You could see him a little bit with his head in a towel again. The crowd fired off another “Fire Nico” chant during some Caleb Martin free throws. I lost count, but I think it was around 11 or 12 times during the game.In one of my closest group chats, almost everybody at some point remarked how they still can’t believe Dončić is on the Lakers. A couple of people, who vehemently hate the Lakers and root against them, mentioned they were rooting for Los Angeles in this game because they wanted it for Dončić. The Dallas crowd seemed to do the same. The night was emotional and seemed cathartic for all, but still empty for Mavs fans. For his part, Dončić said it’s time to move on, whether that’s doable or not.Mavericks fans certainly won’t. It’s the most incomprehensible trade in league history. It won’t work out for the Mavs at any point. And this might be the scene every time he comes to town.The Last 24Yes, LeBron is now a Ken doll🏀 LeKen Doll. LeBron James partnered with Mattel as the first pro athlete to become a Ken doll. It’s taller than the standard Ken doll. 👟 Ranking Jordans! Jordan Brand celebrates 40 years, so we ranked the signature shoes. It is incomprehensible the Jordan 1 isn’t number one! (Reminder: Bounce readers read for free)🍿 Lit them up! Check out the time Caitlin Clark absolutely ignited the men’s practice squad at Iowa. She dropped 22 points in two minutes.✍️ Denver’s cold war. Sam Amick and Tony Jones have you covered on what led to the Nuggets’ surprising firings this week.🎧 Tuning in. Today’s NBA Daily examines whether the Mavericks can turn things around this upcoming summer.🏈 Beast mode. Are you an NFL Draft sicko like me? Do not forget Dane Brugler’s draft guide “The Beast.”📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Timberwolves (46-33) at Grizzlies (47-32), 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT. This is massively important for both teams trying to avoid the Play-In Tournament.Stat TrackerThe stat races and milestones worth knowingWe’re down to the final days of the regular season, and it seems like a good time to check in on the major statistical races and accomplishments! We know LeBron James keeps scoring more points than we have ever imagined for a career, and Steph Curry can’t stop breaking the all-time record for 3-pointers made. But what else has happened this season? Let’s dive in!Scoring race! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has run away with the scoring title for average, putting up 32.7 points per game. He’s 2.3 points per game higher than Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is second in the race. We haven’t had a scoring leader disparity like that since James Harden won it by 3.8 points per game over Bradley Beal in 2019-20.Total points: SGA is also running away with this at 2,484 points. Anthony Edwards is second at 2,081 points. If you remove SGA’s fourth-quarter points, he’s still currently leading with 2,096 points.Rebounding leader: Domantas Sabonis is about to win the rebounding crown for the third straight season with 13.9 per game. It’s 1.1 per game more than second place Karl-Anthony Towns. However, Ivica Zubac has the most rebounds with 982. Sabonis has 944.Assists leader: Trae Young both easily has the highest assist average (11.6) and the most assists (857). Neither of those races are close. Nikola Jokić is second in both average (10.2) and total (696).Blocks leader: Walker Kessler is the qualified blocks per game leader with 2.4 each night. The mind-boggling stat? Victor Wembanyama, who hasn’t played in two months, is still the total blocks leader with 176. Brook Lopez needs to block 33 times in the final three games to take the lead.Steals leader: Dyson Daniels ran away with this in both average (3.0) and total (223). He’s 92 steals ahead of SGA, who is second.300 3s club! Going into this season, we’d only seen three players in league history make 300 3-pointers in a season. Klay Thompson did it (301). Harden did it (378). And Steph Curry did it five times (324, 337, 354, 357 and 402). Well, it’s happened three more times now. Curry did it again! Of course. He cracked 300 in last night’s game. Malik Beasley and Anthony Edwards also join the club — they’re tied for the league lead with 305 makes.About Last NightAn update on playoff positioningWe got a few resolutions from Wednesday night’s action, as we now have just three more days of the NBA regular season. All 30 teams will play both Friday and Sunday, while taking Saturday off. This is what moved the playoff and standings needles last night!The Lakers clinched! That’s what I forgot to tell you in the Dončić section above. With their win over Dallas, the Lakers (49-31) clinched a top-six berth in the West and avoided the Play-In completely. Dallas lost but clinched its Play-In spot because …The Suns are eliminated! OKC did not throw Phoenix a bone, beating the Suns 125-111 with a dominant third quarter. This officially eliminates the Suns from a Play-In spot. And they are officially the most expensive failure in NBA history. John Hollinger has thoughts on what could come next.Western Conference positioning: The Nuggets (with their new coach!) beat the Kings 124-116. The Clippers beat the Rockets 134-117 (Ivica Zubac had a triple-double!). And the Warriors lost to the Spurs at home on a Harrison Barnes 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left. So, here are your 3-8 teams in the West:3. Lakers (49-31) | 4. Nuggets (48-32) | 5. Clippers (48-32) | 6. Grizzlies (47-32) | 7. Warriors (47-33) | 8. Wolves (46-33)
Lakers play the Rockets (nothing to play for) on Friday and Blazers (nothing to play for) on Sunday.
Nuggets play the Grizzlies on Friday and Rockets (nothing to play for still) on Sunday.
Clippers play the Kings on Friday and the Warriors on Sunday.
Grizzlies play the Wolves tonight, the Nuggets on Friday, and the Mavs on Sunday.
Warriors play the Blazers on Friday and Clippers on Sunday.
Wolves play the Grizzlies tonight, the Nets on Friday and the Jazz on Sunday.
Basically, Ime Udoka and the Rockets could really mess this up if they want to.Orlando won the Southeast division. Boston started the B Team, and Orlando took advantage with a 96-76 win. The win clinched the division title and home court in the 7-8 matchup in the Play-In. That means none of the Southeast teams made the top six.Chicago will likely host the 9-10 matchup. Josh Giddey had a 28-point, 16-rebound, 11-assist triple-double to give the Bulls a 119-111 win over the Heat. They are a full game ahead of Miami, own the tie-breaker and play Washington and Philly in their last two games.One more thing on the Dončić-Dallas night. Before the game, Mavs coach Jason Kidd said about the Dončić trade, “Some are comparing this to Babe Ruth, which is kinda cool.” As the internet pointed out last night, Kidd clearly doesn’t know the Mavs are the Red Sox here.📬 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.(Top photo: Jerome Miron / USA Today Network via Imagn Images )
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