The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing much better in recent weeks despite the absence of Anthony Davis, and the Dallas Mavericks discovered that firsthand. For much of the game, the Lakers, led by LeBron James, have been trying to dig themselves out of their first-quarter hole, and they did just that. With only a few seconds left in the payoff period, the Lakers were in position to hand Luka Doncic and the Mavs their second loss in Los Angeles in three nights.

But Luka Doncic was having none of it.

With the Mavs down by three and less than ten seconds on the clock, Doncic found himself isolated on Dennis Schroder behind the three-point arc following a gorgeous handoff from Spencer Dinwiddie. The Slovenian superstar wasted no time putting the moves on Schroder. Doncic was able to free himself from Schroder with a lovely between the legs snatch-back, and he launched a triple over the German guard's head with considerable daylight to spare.

Bottoms.

The Lakers still had a chance to win the game, Luka Doncic's heroics notwithstanding. With six seconds left following Doncic's game-tying shot, everyone at Crypto.com Arena knew that the ball was going to LeBron James' hands. Thus, the Mavs were prepared. Spencer Dinwiddie went on to double James alongside Reggie Bullock, forcing James to relinquish the basketball to Troy Brown Jr. for an open triple.

However, Tim Hardaway Jr. came up with a huge rejection that may or may not have been a foul. Shortly thereafter, the buzzer had sounded without the officials blowing the whistle, and the game was heading to overtime. And it's all thanks, yet again, to Doncic's otherworldly mettle at the most crucial juncture of the game.

Meanwhile, in overtime, the Mavs found themselves down by three yet again with less than 50 seconds left in the game. The Lakers have been doubling Luka Doncic all night long to get the ball out of his hands, but it didn't matter. As an encore, Doncic nailed yet another stepback three, this time over Brown, to tie the game at 108 apiece. And with both teams failing to score on the subsequent possessions, the game was off to yet another overtime.

At this point, with the game on the line, the Lakers must get the ball out of Doncic's hands at all costs and live with the results.