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Luka Dončić Taught Matas Buzelis Harsh Lesson About Trash Talking in 50-Point Lakers Explosion

Luka Dončić’s first 50-point outing in purple and gold taught Matas Buzelis a lesson he won’t soon forget.
Liam McKeone|
Matas Buzelis talked some trash to Luka Dončić and wound up deeply regretting it.
Matas Buzelis talked some trash to Luka Dončić and wound up deeply regretting it. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles LakersChicago Bulls

On Thursday night the Lakers beat the Bulls, 142-130, thanks to an outstanding performance from Luka Dončić.

The Slovenian superstar passed the 50-point mark for the first time with Los Angeles, recording 51 points on 17-for-31 shooting from the floor along with 10 rebounds and nine assists. The breakout night could not have happened at a better time for the Lakers. Chicago kept it close throughout because the Lakers’ defense wasn’t operating at nearly as high a level as the offense, but the purple and gold need every win they can get in a tight Western Conference playoff picture, and Dončić delivered. The win was even sweeter as it came in LeBron James’s return to the lineup, quieting some lineup questions that had arisen in Hollywood of late.

The contest also included a lot of back-and-forth between Dončić and Bulls sophomore Matas Buzelis. Buzelis is rounding into form as a solid player in his second NBA season and has consistently demonstrated he will not back down from anybody. This includes Dončić, apparently. Starting in the second quarter the two opponents started talking quite a bit to each other.

Dončić is one of the league’s most notorious trash talkers and was happy to oblige Buzelis.

Dončić was playing well to start, but from the fan’s view, it appeared that he took his game to a whole other level once he began to engage with Buzelis in a war of words. Dončić confirmed that’s what happened after the game, giving Buzelis credit for launching his game into another stratosphere. He also noted the whole dialogue surprised him because he didn’t say anything to spark it; Buzelis just came at him.

“In the second quarter, I kind of felt it,” Dončić said when asked when he felt it would be a special night. “Somebody started talking to me, woke me up... Matas Buzelis. I was surprised. I was shocked.

“I'm not gonna say what he said. If I would say that, I would definitely get a tech. But these games, some times you go in easy, and we kind of went easy in the first quarter. Then [the trash talking] woke me up.”

Basketball players are a competitive bunch but sometimes it is unwise to poke the bear. It sounds like Buzelis took that message to heart.

“I don’t even know what to say, honestly,” Buzelis said after the game about Dončić’s performance. “I mean, he started killing, obviously, when I started talking to him. I just... As you said, I don’t back down from anybody, no matter who you are. I took on the challenge and didn’t execute.”

The young Bulls forward was then asked what he hopes to take away from the game.

“Um... Probably not to talk to him.”

The honesty is appreciated. And it is the right takeaway based on Dončić’s career. The superstar is always a very good player but ascends to a higher plane of basketball existence when he gets into it with whoever has the misfortune of lining up across from him that day. Some players are unlocked by the thrill of competition even beyond winning a professional basketball game, and Dončić is very much in that category.

Dončić’s coach, JJ Redick, spoke on that concept during his own postgame availability last night.

“It’s a unique trait,” Redick said. “It’s not just the fact that he responds to rough play or trash talking. It’s that he can channel it. He can channel it while still doing all the other things that needs to be done. That’s obviously reflected in his defensive rebounding, his assists, his steals. Another game where he gets a high assist number with low turnovers.

“He’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now.”

Buzelis was not the first Dončić opponent to learn this lesson. He won’t be the last, either.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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