Luka Doncic’s next trip back to Dallas comes with a little extra weight on it.
The Lakers visit the Mavericks only once in the 2026-27 season, and the date on the calendar is impossible to miss: Sunday, Feb. 28, Doncic’s 28th birthday. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. tip at American Airlines Center and will air on ABC, just like the other meetings since his stunning trade out of Dallas in February 2025.
For Mavericks fans, the question has been sitting there ever since the schedule dropped Thursday. When does Luka come home? Now they have the answer.
Doncic has wasted no time making those matchups must-watch TV. In four career games against Dallas, he’s putting up 33.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists in 38 minutes per game.
His first return was the emotional one, with tears in his eyes during a pregame tribute video before he carved up the Mavs for 45 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in a 112-97 Lakers win. The most recent meeting in Dallas came on Jan. 24, 2026, when he scored 33 and handed out 11 assists in a 116-110 Los Angeles victory.
After that birthday stop in Dallas, the Mavericks will see the Lakers twice more in Los Angeles: March 21 on NBC and April 6.
Doncic arrives at the season coming off a monster year. He led the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game, picked up his sixth All-NBA First Team and All-Star selections, and finished fourth in MVP voting for the fourth time he has landed among the five finalists. It was his second scoring title, after he averaged 33.9 points in 2023-24, the same season he guided Dallas to its third-ever trip to the NBA Finals before the trade to Los Angeles for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round pick.
Across seven full seasons with the Mavericks, Doncic averaged 28.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. He now heads into a new chapter with the Lakers, with LeBron James having moved on to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
One more wrinkle: Doncic has played on his birthday four times already, and this year makes it five straight seasons with a Feb. 28 game. Last season, he scored 26 points in a 129-101 Lakers win at Golden State.
This one, though, figures to feel different.
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