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Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison admitted that he miscalculated the popularity of Luka Dončić among the team’s fanbase before the shocking trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in February.

The NBA world was stunned when Dončić was traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers in one of the most shocking transactions in recent history, despite the Slovenian superstar being the face of the Mavs and in his basketball prime.

Harrison has faced vehement backlash from Dallas fans in the aftermath of the trade, with many calling for him to be fired. The 52-year-old has consistently defended the move, but on Monday admitted that the love for Dončić from Mavs fans did come as a surprise to him.

“I did know that Luka was important to the fanbase,” Harrison told reporters during his season-ending news conference. “I didn’t quite know to what level.”

While Dončić went to Los Angeles in the blockbuster trade, the Mavs received 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis as the main piece in return with the hopes of transforming the team into a defensive juggernaut.

But since the transaction, the team has faced severe injury issues, with Davis missing a large portion of the season and Kyrie Irving suffering a torn ACL shortly afterwards.

After the trade and as a result of the slew of injuries, Dallas dropped down the Western Conference standings before just eking into the play-in tournament as the 10th seed. The team would win its first game before being eliminated in its second.

That has only brought even more pressure on Harrison, with fans heard chanting “Fire Nico” at Mavericks home games since the trade.

But Harrison remains staunch in his belief that Dallas has the makings of a winning team despite their season being over.

“We feel that’s a championship-caliber team and we would have been winning at a high level and that would have quieted some of the outrage,” Harrison said, adding that being healthy is the only thing keeping the team from challenging for a title. “And so unfortunately we weren’t able to do that, so it just continued to go on and on.”

The move was made more difficult to swallow for Mavs fans given the Lakers’ success since Dončić moved to California, with the team booking its spot in the playoffs and rounding into a serious title contender.

Dončić was given a hero’s welcome when he returned to American Airlines Center for the first time earlier this month, with fans chanting his name throughout and Dončić himself overcome with emotions at the pre-game tribute video that was played.

The 26-year-old told ESPN recently that he threw and cracked his phone when he first heard about the trade, adding that he felt “sadness mostly” and that he “felt like my heart was broken, honestly.”

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The Detroit Pistons finally ended their NBA-record 15-game losing streak in the postseason, beating the New York Knicks 100-94 at Madison Square Garden to level the first round series at 1-1.

Detroit, appearing in the postseason for the first time since 2019, last earned a playoff win in Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals against the eventual champion Boston Celtics. The Pistons were then swept in the first round of the playoffs in 2009, 2016 and 2019.

“It’s a great feeling,” Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham said, per the Associated Press. “It feels good to represent the city like we did tonight.

“It’s something that the city been waiting on for a long time, so we feel good about it and we’re ready to get back to the crib and perform in front of them.”

The Pistons will likely have been experiencing unwelcome déjà vu on Monday night when the Knicks, as they did in Game 1, surged back from an eight-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to level the score.

However, the Pistons didn’t crumble this time around and Dennis Schröder’s huge three-pointer gave Detroit a 97-94 lead with just 55 seconds remaining, before the German guard and Jalen Duren sealed the win with free throws.

“We found a way to maintain our poise and collect ourselves in a really similar situation,” Cunningham said, per ESPN. “We responded really well. I thought it was a great opportunity for us to respond and have a better outcome.”

Cunningham finished 33 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals, with Schröder chipping in 20 points.

The teams will next face off on Thursday in Detroit for Game 3.

“We got bigger things we’re out here for,” Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said. “So our focus, and that’s why our guys have been able to grow and be consistent because they just think about the now and I thought they did a great job tonight of staying in the moment and doing what we needed to do.”

For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 37 points to go with seven assists. Mikal Bridges added 19, but it was a quiet night for Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby, who finished with 10 points apiece.

Remarkably, Towns didn’t even attempt a shot in the entire fourth quarter, despite playing all 12 minutes.

After the game, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was clearly frustrated by the number of free-throws awarded to both teams, with the final total sitting at 34-19 in the Pistons’ favor.

“Huge discrepancy in free throws,” he said. “Huge. I don’t understand how, on one side, there are direct line drives with contact that just aren’t being called. Look, I really don’t give a crap how they call the game as long as it’s consistent on both sides.

“But if Cunningham’s driving, and there’s marginal contact that gets him to the line, then Jalen (Brunson) should be getting to the line.”

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Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi won a thrilling battle over compatriot and two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri at the Boston Marathon, smashing the course record in the process.

Lokedi surged away from her rival in the closing stages and crossed the line in 2:17:22 – more than two and a half minutes faster than Buzunesh Deba’s previous record from 2014.

It was Lokedi’s second major marathon victory having triumphed in New York in 2022, while also avenging her runner-up finish to Obiri at last year’s race.

“I’m always second to her and today I was like: There’s no way,” the 31-year-old said. “I just have to put it out there and fight till the end and see how it goes. I’m so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad.”

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw was third in 2:18:06, still well inside the old course record.

The lead group set off at a blistering pace, passing through the halfway mark in 1:08:46. The race started to thin out in the hilly latter stages, eventually leaving only Lokedi and Obiri to battle for the victory.

“We went through halfway in 68 minutes and I thought: That’s so fast! We hadn’t got to the hills yet,” said Lokedi. “We just kept the pace honest, but I was worried we were going too fast.”

In the men’s race, Kenyan John Korir pulled clear from the lead pack around mile 20 to take a commanding victory in a time of 2:04:45.

Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu outsprinted Kenya’s Cyprian Kotut to finish second, crossing the line 19 seconds behind Korir, while American Conner Mantz narrowly missed out on a podium place in fourth.

The 28-year-old Korir follows in the footsteps of his brother Wesley, who took the title in Boston 13 years ago. The pair embraced at the finish line as they celebrated becoming the first siblings ever to win the race.

“I expected him there (at the finish line). I had promised him that I am going to win and I made it,” Korir told ESPN, adding: “Today I will make jokes with him because I am the fastest in the family. He had a title for Boston in the family but now I’ve got it.”

The reigning Chicago Marathon champion had to overcome a difficult start in Boston when he fell in the first 50 meters and lost his race number from the front of his singlet. However, he soon managed to pick himself up and catch up with the lead runners.

The stumble didn’t seem to faze Korir during the race as he built a big lead over the field in the last six miles, not long after defending champion Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia had pulled out.

In the wheelchair races, Switzerland’s seven-time Paralympic champion Marcel Hug won his eighth title in Boston, while USA’s Susannah Scaroni claimed her second having also triumphed in 2023.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.