LOS ANGELES — The elephant wasn't in the room; the ghost haunted the building —a towering, beloved specter, jilted, in a Mavericks jersey under the championship banner he helped hoist.
The air was thick with memory, with the weight of a trade that reshaped not only two franchises but also transformed the NBA's landscape.
But on the court, two other men were busy exorcising the past with a present-tense pyrotechnic display, authoring a new narrative with every swish, every darting pass, every defiant bucket.
Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić led an avalanche of offensive inevitability, leading the Lakers to a 129-119 victory that solidified Rob Pelinka's decision.
The numbers themselves are a form of hyperbole, a statistical exaggeration that somehow understates the sheer beauty of the performance.
Reaves: 38 points on just 15 shots, a breathtaking display of efficiency that continues to defy logic.
Dončić: 35 points, 11 assists, a maestro's line so routine it belied its brilliance.
Together, they were an unstoppable force, a two-headed engine of creation that left the NBA's second-ranked defense and the narrative of Anthony Davis' return in their wake.
For Reaves, the explosion was a simplistic, brutal truth in this new Lakers ecosystem.
"Luka draws so much attention. Bron, obviously, Bron does," Reaves said. "You know, they are going to get the majority of attention and you just kind of run around out there and find the open spot and make shots."
Reaves made it sound, just like his game, so simple, so effortless. But this was the product of a profound evolution, a shift in roles in which the supporting star becomes the primary weapon.
His coach, JJ Redick, saw beyond the shot-making to Reaves' cerebral balance.
"I think he's done a good job throughout the year of finding that balance… of hunting threes and touching the paint," Redick said. "And so when he's in that mode of balance, he's really just hard to guard."
This was the essence of Reaves' night—a perfect, poised equilibrium between patient orchestration and ruthless execution.
And then there was Dončić, the former Maverick, now the unquestioned king of this new realm. The Mavericks blitzed him, doubled him, threw every defensive scheme they possessed at him. His response was a masterclass in unflappable poise.
"They blitzed Luka behind half court on the first play of the game," Redick noted, "and there's a responsibility there to make good decisions."
Dončić didn't just make good decisions; he made great ones, dissecting the pressure with preternatural vision, his 11 assists a testament to a player who sees the game move ahead and plays with the deftness of Bobby Fischer.
This victory sends Los Angeles to the knockout round of the NBA Cup, which isn't an act of heroism but a symbiotic genius.
The Lakers' offensive flow was a river, and Reaves and Dončić were its twin sources. Their gravity created a vacuum, sucking in defenders and opening the floor for others. Deandre Ayton, rolling to the rim with purpose, finished with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting, a beneficiary of the chaos they sowed.
"They're making my life really easy," Ayton said. "Making shots off these screens and… I'm just rolling to the rim, just putting pressure as best as I can."
Even LeBron James continues to embrace his role in this new hierarchy, content to be a devastatingly effective part of the whole, hitting a clutch three to seal the game.
The entire operation was a display of organized, unselfish chaos. 27 assists on 31 made baskets. 18 threes. A blistering 59% from the field.
This shooting was the sustainable habit Reaves alluded to, the problem-solving he praised.
"We've done a good job of problem solving during games," Reaves said. "Instead of breaking them apart, you know, we come together and figure it out."
And when the final horn sounded, a poignant, personal moment underscored the night. There, at midcourt, Reaves and Anthony Davis exchanged jerseys.
"For me to get his, it's pretty fun," Reaves said. "I got a lot of love for AD… from day one, he was telling me to be myself… I owe him a lot."
It was a moment of heartfelt vulnerability and a deep-seated brotherhood; a passing of the torch, not in conflict, but in respect. The past acknowledged the present, and the present, led by the incendiary duo of Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić, continues to blaze a path to a future that has never looked brighter for the Lakers.