With the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center on Sunday afternoon, the stars were out in full force. What they
saw was the Dallas Mavericks building a seemingly comfortable 27-point lead, only to see the Lakers rally big-time for a stunning 111-108 victory.
It was a shocking defeat for the Mavs considering they had the Lakers on their heels and led, 48-21, less than five minutes into the second quarter. However, after that the Mavs’ lead slowly evaporated in a game that likely will have playoff implications.
“It started way before the third (quarter),” coach Jason Kidd, of his team’s unfortunate slide. “We lost our rhythm in the sense of just playing our game and not worrying about the other elements.
“Our rhythm there in the first two-and-a-half (quarters), we were playing at a high level on both ends, offensively and defensively. Then, we just got a little distracted with the whistle. We’ve just got to be better with that.”
Even the reliable Luka Doncic made a critical mistake during a crucial point of the game.
With the Lakers up by three points with 18 seconds remaining and Kyrie Irving inbounding the ball for the Mavs, Irving tossed the ball near the backcourt and in the direction of Doncic. But instead of allowing the ball to legally go into the back court and then gaining possession of it, Doncic tried to save it before it went in the back court and then he inadvertently threw it to Lakers’ center Anthony Davis.
“That was my bad,” said Doncic, who finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists. “I totally forgot you can go backcourt. That was my mistake. That is why I tried to save it.”
In explaining his side of the key turnover, Irving said: “It happened so fast. I thought Luka needed a little bit more room, so I threw it towards the backcourt because I thought Jarred Vanderbilt did a great job denying him. I thought he was just going to let it bounce twice and then go grab it, but once I saw him try to save it from half court I looked at him maybe like a minute later and was like, ‘You know you can go backcourt.’ And he was like, ‘Ah, man. That’s my fault.’ “
Irving, who was traded to the Mavs from Brooklyn on Feb. 6, explained the mishap in another way, saying: “This is what it’s going to be like when you’re learning in-game with one another. It’s not going to look pretty all the time.
“You just have to enjoy the process the same way. Wins and losses come, but I know that moving forward we will definitely be more aligned, and coming out of the timeout we’ll have a better play.”
Davis was intentionally fouled after that mistake by the Mavs, and split two free throws to pad the Laker lead to 109-105 with 12.7 seconds remaining. Justin Holiday then buried a three-pointer in front of the Mavs’ bench to get Dallas within 109-108 of the Lakers with 5.4 seconds left.
From there, Dennis Schroder converted two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining, and Irving’s 48-foot desperation three-point heave fell short of its mark as time expired.
While the Lakers’ dynamic duo of Davis (30 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks) and LeBron James (26 points right rebounds) did damage to the Mavs, so too did Vanderbilt. Acquired in a recent trade with the Utah Jazz, Vanderbilt contributed 15 points, a season-high 17 rebounds and a season-high four steals.
Vanderbilt also collected eight of the Lakers’ 17 offensive rebounds, helping LA enjoy an 18-10 advantage in second-chance points.
“He killed us tonight — offensively and defensively — being able to rebound the ball,” Kidd said. “He killed us on the boards.
“We’ve seen that before in Minnesota and also in Utah. We knew that that’s what he did, and he did it at a high level.”
Early on, it was the Mavs who were doing things at a high level. With Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and singer-songwriter Erykah Badu among the celebrities on hand for this nationally televised game, the Mavs were dropping dimes and three-pointers all over the place while making life miserable for the Lakers.
Christian Wood (14 points, nine rebounds), slammed home a dunk on a fast break, Tim Hardaway Jr. (17 points) nailed three free throws, Irving scored on a put-back basket, and Wood drilled a three-pointer as the Mavs rolled to their 27-point advantage. At that juncture, the Mavs were 10-of-17 from downtown, while the Lakers had missed all 14 of their three-point attempts.
But then all of that positivity by the Mavs gradually disappeared as the Lakers chipped away until they only trailed, 61-47
at the half. The Lakers eventually went ahead, 83-81, a little over a minute into the fourth quarter following a three-pointer and a jumper from James.
“It’s just our maturity, understanding what we have to do at that time,” Kidd said. “Look, we’ve seen a lot of basketball games when you have big leads.
“We know which way the whistle’s going to go. You’ve got to play through them.”
Asked if he thought the Mavs lost their composure, Doncic said: “You could say that, but we still had a big lead we should have never let go. I think we just relaxed a little bit and we have to work on that.”
Irving, who finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, described it as “a tale of two halves,” with the Lakers outscoring the Mavs in the second half, 64-47.
“The first half we were playing incredible, other than the last three minutes of the first half where I think we came in up 14,” Irving said. “I’ve been quoted saying this: ‘There is no 20-point lead that’s safe in this league anymore’ just because of pace and style of the game. But for us, I think we showed some great poise in the third quarter.
“But in that fourth quarter I have to do a better job of just getting us into some initiated offensive sets and just be aggressive and not kind of force my way into the lane. I feel like after they were scoring, there were a few times I tried to rush the ball up court and answer back with a three. I just have to let the flow of the game dictate my instincts and then be able to withstand some of the Lakers’ runs, especially when Luka’s not out there.”
The loss dropped the Mavs to 32-30 going into Tuesday’s home game against Indiana, while the Lakers improved to 29-32.
On his team’s struggling late in a few fourth quarters this season, Kidd said: “I’m glad it’s happening during the season and not during the playoffs. When you have (Doncic and Irving) out there, it’s about the details. We’ve got to do a better job with the details.”
The blown 27-point lead ties for the third-largest blown lead in Mavs history. And according to ESPN Stats and Information, teams with a lead of 27 points or more were 138-0 this season before Sunday.
“As a team we’ve got to mature,” Kidd said. “We’ve got a lot of new bodies coming back and we have to grow up if we want to win a championship. There’s no young team that’s ever won a championship, mentally or physically.
“What the Lakers just showed us is (in the race to the championship) it’s not the rabbit who wins. It’s the turtle. They worked the game and that’s what we have to get to. We have to get better at working the game, and we will.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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