Doncic, Exum lead Mavs past LeBron, Lakers

LOS ANGELES: Luka Doncic produced another dazzling performance as the Dallas Mavericks brought LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers back down to earth with a 127-125 victory on Tuesday.

Doncic rattled off his eighth straight 30-point game to finish with 33 points, 17 assists and six rebounds in a thrilling back-and-forth duel with the Lakers, who were playing their first game since winning the inaugural in-season tournament on Saturday.

An absorbing contest at Dallas’s American Airlines Center home saw the lead change hands eight times, with the Lakers overturning a 15-point deficit with a huge third quarter to help open up a four-point lead early in the fourth.

But Dallas’s Dante Exum took over with a superb display in the final period that saw him rattle in 17 points — including five three-pointers — to carry the Mavs to victory.

Exum finished with 26 points while Tim Hardaway Jr. added 32 points from the bench to support Doncic.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers scoring with 37 points from 15-of-21 shooting, with James adding 33.

Doncic stayed in the game despite rolling an ankle and suffering a bloodied lip in a physical battle between the two Western Conference rivals.

“I’m not going out in a game like this, no way,” the Slovenian star said. “When you’re playing against the best you want to stay on the court.

“This was an amazing team win. We’ve got so many guys out, everybody stepped up, everybody played hard.”

Doncic admitted he was flattered by talk of him potentially emerging as a contender for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award — but insisted team success was more important than individual honors.

“Of course, who wouldn’t want to be MVP of the league?” Doncic said. “But obviously first is the