The Mavs have plenty of reason to be optimistic after beating the Lakers in the first bubble scrimmage.

LAGO BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The game did not count. It had no consequences other than some anxious second half moments for Mavericks fans when Luka Doncic left the court, followed by track coach Casey Smith.

It turns out that Doncic was fine. He says he went to stretch because he reached his minute limit (17). The collective sigh of fan relief could be felt here in the NBA bubble on the Disney World campus after a 108-104 Mavericks victory Thursday night over the Lakers which, by a blow, featured a lot intensity, trash talk and exuberance.

In a word, joy.

These teams had not played an organized game since March. Accumulated for much of the past four months, like millions of people worldwide during the coronavirus pandemic, the Mavericks and Lakers were finally able to compete again.

The setting, a fanless Visa Center on the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus, was abnormal, but that did not affect the energy level on the field.

“It’s different, for sure,” said Doncic, who finished with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds. “You can hear a lot of talking, and that’s different. But we just came to play basketball, and we did our best. “

The Mavericks earned 23 points from Seth Curry, who made his six 3-point attempts, and somehow continued his steamy aim in February and March despite the four-month hiatus.

The Lakers earned 12 points each from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who played only 15 minutes because, after all, this was scrimmage. A scrimmage with 10 minute quarters.

“It was weird, definitely weird going out during the warm-ups,” Curry said. “But to start the game, I mean, it was like a good competition. It was like a normal basketball game. You could hear both banks talking a lot, so that should be interesting.

“As for the atmosphere, it’s something that we have to get used to. It will be an adjustment for everyone. ”

How weird was it? Before the teams went out to warm up, the video boards surrounding three-quarters of the court showed about 45 seconds of virtual Laker Girls, jumping up and down but silent.

They did not return the rest of the night. Maybe the video board trades were playing before the actual games started in the July 30 bubble.

Minutes before the start of the game, James and the Lakers interrupted their warm-up by executing a false football play. James, the quarterback, of course, sent a catcher on the move, yelled “Omaha! Omaha! Like Peyton Manning and took a basketball up from the baseline to Davis in the middle of the court. Landing!

When the scrimmage started, the most interesting part of being here in person was the normality of pure basketball on the court, the sound of screeching sneakers, James yelling defensive instructions, coaches and players yelling onto the court and sometimes to the opposite bank. .

“It’s different, but it’s really cool,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. “I keep saying that this is something unique in life. I love the creativity involved in doing this.

“I don’t think they’ve used the digital boards the way they will once the real games start, in terms of noise from home fans and that sort of thing. There are more tricks in the NBA bag as we go. “

For the Mavericks, there were promising glimpses, glimpses of reasons to be optimistic as the franchise looks to quickly grab its first postseason berth since 2016 and, perhaps, win its first playoff series since the 2011 NBA Finals.

There were 54% shooting from Dallas. There were 13 points from Justin Jackson’s bench. Boban Marjanovic came off the bench with 17 points and 13 rebounds in 24 minutes.

It was Marjanovic, remember, that on March 11, in the NBA’s last game, it ended before the league entered its coronavirus pause, racked up 31 points, and knocked down 17 rebounds in a home win over Denver.

Perhaps the Mavericks will not miss Willie Cauley-Stein, who chose not to participate in the season restart after all.

“In general, a lot of good things,” Carlisle said. “Two areas that hurt us: we had many turnovers (14) and we committed many fouls. Those are two areas that we will seek to improve. ”

It’s been over four months without games, after all. No one expected Thursday to be perfect, but perhaps few expected the teams to be so hot.

Carlisle did, however.

“Everyone always competes extremely hard in the first exhibition game in any sport at any time,” he said. “You just came out of an extended series of practices. Everyone is connected. Everyone has high expectations of going back to the flat. “

Be aware of a pandemic and doubts about whether this season will resume, and you’ll get what we saw on Thursday.

Joy of being back.

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