The storylines of Luka Doncic's first game back in front of Dallas Mavericks fans have been endless.Doncic was seen crying during the pregame video tribute honoring his time with the franchise but then proceeded to drop 45 points on the Mavericks in the Los Angeles Lakers' 112-97 win amid cheers from the crowd every time he made a bucket.

The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in peculiar territory as the season comes to a close. LA is fighting for important playoff seeding, while the Mavs will most likely have to win two games in the Play-In Tournament just to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs.

And fans gobbled it up. The 26-year-old guard's return to the American Airlines Center drew huge ratings for the NBA. An average of 2.26 million viewers watched the Lakers' 112-97 victory versus the Mavs, which marks ESPN's largest non-Christmas audience of the season, per the longtime sports programming network's public relations X account.