In a game that many fans across the NBA had circled, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers took a trip to Texas to take on his former Dallas Mavericks squad Wednesday eveing.

Despite a touching tribute video and commemoratives t-shirts dished out by the Mavericks, Doncic showed no mercy for the team who traded him after 6.5 years.

Fueled by the crowd’s chants of “fire Nico (Harrison), Doncic led his new squad to a 112-97 win.

He finished the game with 45 points, and the win guaranteed that the Lakers will make the playoffs as a top-five seed.

The Lakers weren’t the only recipients of great news, as according to ESPN, the game attracted the largest audience for an ESPN-televised game all season outside of the Christmas games.

The release revealed that the game peaked at 2.79 million viewers, and was up 71% in comparison to a similar game last year.

In a year where the ratings being down has been a popular topic of discussion, the NBA surely has to be pleased that there is now a built-in rivlary between the Lakers and Mavericks because of the trade.

While Doncic will always hold a special place in his heart for Dallas, he made it clear after the game when speaking to ESPN, that he is moving on from that time period of his life.

“Everybody saw me, the way I reacted to the video,” Doncic said.

“All these fans, I really appreciate it, man. All the teammates I had, everybody had my back. I’m just happy. You know, I love these fans, I love this city, but it’s time to move on.”

With his return out of the way, Doncic and the Lakers are now focused on making a deep playoff run.

To finish out the year they will take on the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers.