Luka Doncic scores 45 points in Dallas return as Lakers clinch playoff spot with 112-97 win

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 45 points in his first game in Dallas since being traded to the Los Angeles, helping the Lakers wrap up a playoff spot with a 112-97 victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday night.

Doncic's emotional return came two months after a seismic trade out of nowhere that sent the five-time All-Star to Los Angeles. The 26-year-old star from Slovenia spent his first 5 1/2 seasons with the Mavericks, and still had two seasons left on his contract.

The 45 points matched Doncic's season high — he did that once for Dallas and one other time for the Lakers. He also had eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.

LeBron James had 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers fell behind before a strong finish.

Anthony Davis, who went from the Lakers to Dallas in the Doncic heal, had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Naji Marshall led the Mavs with 23 points and eight assists.

The Lakers remained third in the Western Conference standings after their third game in four days. They came to Dallas after splitting a pair of games at Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City.

Dallas (38-42) is guaranteed a losing record a year after making the NBA Finals. The Mavs are still in position to finish 10th and make the play-in tournament.

James's three-point play with 8:10 left broke an 87-all tie and put the Lakers ahead to stay, and he added a layup 34 seconds later. That came after Dallas' 15-2 run.

James' 1,561st career regular-season game moved him past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for sole possession of second place on the NBA list. Only Robert Parrish with 1,611 has more than the 40-year-old James. It was his 418th game in seven seasons with the Lakers, after 849 games with Cleveland and 294 with Miami.

Both teams play their regular-season home finales Friday night, when the Mavericks take on Toronto, and the Lakers host Houston.

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Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic follows through on a shot in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) gestures as he walks on the court during a time out in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) shoots as Dallas Mavericks' Naji Marshall (13) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic gestures to an official in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

A fan holds up a sign thanking Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic as he stands on the court at rear late in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves (15) and Luka Doncic (77) celebrate in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) makes a pass as Dallas Mavericks' P.J. Washington (25) and Max Christie, right rear, defend in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) and Rui Hachimura, center right, celebrate late in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) and LeBron James (23) celebrate in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) and LeBron James, center, right, hug and celebrate late in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) reacts to play in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A civil jury in California found Monday that Bill Cosby was liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972 and awarded her $59.25 million.

After a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica, jurors found Cosby, 88, liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger. They awarded her $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million for future damages, including “mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.”

Then in a second phase of the trial Monday afternoon, they awarded an additional $40 million in punitive damages.

Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in an email after the initial award earlier Monday that they are disappointed and fully intend to appeal the verdict. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the punitive damages.

Deliberations lasted about two days.

The decision came nearly five years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania when the state Supreme Court threw out a criminal conviction based on similar allegations. He has settled some similar lawsuits and has been ordered to pay in others, but Monday's award is likely the most he has had to pay in a case.

“This verdict is not just about me – it’s about finally being heard and holding Mr. Cosby accountable,” Motsinger said in a statement. “I have carried the weight of what happened to me for more than 50 years. It never goes away. Today, a jury saw the truth and held him accountable. That means everything. I hope this gives strength to other survivors who are still waiting for their moment to be heard.”

Motsinger had been a server at a restaurant in Sausalito near San Francisco who said in her lawsuit, filed in 2023, that Cosby had invited her to his stand-up comedy show at a theater in nearby San Carlos. Both were in their 30s at the time. She said Cosby gave her wine and two pills that she believed were aspirin, and that she was going in and out of consciousness as two men put her in a limousine.

“She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants,” the lawsuit said. “She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”

In court filings, Cosby's lawyers argued that the allegations rested almost entirely on speculation and assumption, saying Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened.”

Cosby did not testify at the trial, whose witnesses included Andrea Constand, the Temple University sports administrator he was convicted of sexually assaulting in a Pennsylvania criminal court in 2018. The state's Supreme Court threw out the verdict and Cosby was freed from prison after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence.

Motsinger first made her allegations anonymously in a 2005 lawsuit filed by Constand.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly and consent to be named, as Constand and Motsinger have.

In 2022, a jury in Santa Monica awarded $500,000 to a woman who said Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was a teenager in 1975.

Motsinger's lawsuit echoed allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment made by at least 60 women against Cosby, all of which he has denied.

The former stand-up comedy and television superstar once widely known as “America’s Dad” became the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era before his conviction was permanently thrown out when appeals court found he gave incriminating testimony in a deposition only after believing he had immunity from prosecution.

FILE - Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., on Sept. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Bill Cosby arrives for a sentencing hearing following his sexual assault conviction at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown Pa, on Sept. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)