CLEVELAND -- Inspired? Motivated? Or just plain ticked off?
Whichever impetus Luka Doncic used, perhaps all of the above, he clearly had a lot of it Saturday night, scoring a career-high-tying 35 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and adding six assists in the short-handed Mavericks' 111-98 victory over Cleveland.
Playing in Quicken Loans Arena, where his idol LeBron James' NBA legend sprouted and grew, Doncic was King James-like during an electrifying first quarter in which he scored 18 of Dallas' 40 points.
Was it just coincidence that this was Doncic's first game being passed over for an All-Star roster spot?