Late game situations have consistently been the Mavericks weakness this season, and yet they beat the mold on Monday, defeating the Thunder 107-97.

It was an emotional game, being the first game each team had played since the tragic passing of NBA legend Kobe Bryant. To honor Bryant, the Mavericks opened the game with an 8-second backcourt violation followed by a 24-second shot clock violation from the Thunder.

Many players honored Bryant by wearing a pair of his shoes or writing a message on their shoes. For Luka, it was both. Though he recently signed to Jordan, Luka wore a pair of Kobe’s, as he consistently did before his Jordan deal, and wrote all 9 victims on his shoes.

by far the hardest game i ever had to play!! still can’t believe it!! always with us!🙏🙏🙏 #RIP pic.twitter.com/PscNbfLain

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) January 28, 2020

“By far the hardest game I ever had to play!!”

That’s what Luka said on Twitter following the victory. Post game, he told reporters that he got emotional during the first quarter, as Kobe, along with LeBron, were “the guys”.

In regards to the game, Luka finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. KP added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Outside of Luka, the true star of the game was Delon Wright, who came off the bench and had what might be his most active game of the season, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, including six offensive rebounds.

Oklahoma City struggled to produce offense throughout the night, especially without their leader Chris Paul, who missed the game due to personal reasons. CP3 was close with Kobe so imagining the loss was extremely tough on him.

The Mavericks host the Suns tonight on the second night of the back-to-back.