Apparently, 21-point leads are the cryptocurrency of the NBA. They’re never completely safe.
But the Mavericks on Tuesday lost that huge lead, and still lived to talk about it.
Two nights after rallying from 21 points down to beat Golden State, the script was flipped on Tuesday as the Mavericks were the ones fumbling away a 21-point deficit, which the Lakers and LeBron James erased in rapid fashion, just as the Mavericks had done against the Warriors.
There was one major difference. This time, however, the Mavericks were able to gather themselves, maintain enough poise to get the game back in their control and survive with a 109-104 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
The Mavericks improved to 37-25 as they extended the problems of the reeling Lakers, who fell to 27-34 and have lost 15 of their last 21.
When the Mavericks left on this trip after returning from the All-Star break, they knew it would be challenging.
To finish it with a 2-1 record is a major boost to their aspirations with 20 games left before the playoffs. After losing at Utah, they knocked off Golden State Sunday with the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in the NBA this season.
And they followed that with a gutsy win against the Lakers, not that there weren’t some tense moments.
A 59-38 second-quarter lead became a 100-94 deficit midway through the fourth quarter. But Luka Dončić scored twice and had an assist in an 11-0 surge that put the Mavericks up 105-100, squelching the Lakers.
It wasn’t a surprise that the Lakers made a push.
Not to coach Jason Kidd, at least. Nor was it a surprise the way the Mavericks responded to the LA rally.
“At halftime, we told them: they’re coming. LeBron’s coming,” Kidd said postgame. “And we got to watch LeBron put on a show. We didn’t respond well.
“But we didn’t lose our composure. And I think that’s one of the things we’ve gotten better at. We didn’t go away. We kept playing. And in the fourth quarter, we got back to what we did at Golden State, being able to get stops and have Luka dictate the shots. In the fourth quarter we held them to 17 points. That’s pretty good, especially when the momentum was on their side.”
A true sign of the Mavericks’ growth? They won this game despite scoring just 38 points after halftime. That’s three fewer than they scored in the second quarter.
“We had to stick together to get the game back,” said Dončić, who led the Mavericks with 25 points. “We stayed together and our defense was amazing (down the stretch).”
It was Dončić that had provided the spark that got the Mavericks their big lead to begin with. With the game tight in the second quarter, he came flying in after a missed Spencer Dinwiddie 3-pointer from the corner.
In one motion, Dončić grabbed the rebound and jammed in the follow-dunk over Dwight Howard, staring down the fans in the expensive seats on the baseline after the impressive move.
Asked afterward if that’s the highest he’s jumped in a game, Dončić: “Oh yeah, probably.”
Said Kidd: “Was that Luka? Are you sure it wasn’t Maxi (Kleber)? What a play. That’s what he does. It was incredible to see. I had to take a second look to make sure it was Luka. He clearly let us know it was him.”
At that point, the Mavericks were getting active play from Dwight Powell and Kleber, who combined for 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half. They also got a trio of 3-pointers from Dorian Finney-Smith late in the first half to keep the Lakers in arrears.
That changed early in the third quarter, when the Lakers started on a 13-1 blitz that tightened things considerably. When James nailed a 3-pointer, the Mavericks’ lead was gone with the Lakers tying it at 78.
The Mavericks new it was going to be a grind the rest of the way. But they made eight consecutive shots at one point in the fourth quarter to survive.
“I think there’s been growth throughout the season,” Kidd said of his team. “Early on, you would have seen that game kind of go away from us. But we didn’t take a step back.”
Dinwiddie, who joined the Mavericks just before the trade deadline in the Kristaps Porzingis deal, said he’s been impressed with many aspects of the Mavericks in his brief time with the franchise.
“Obviously, we’re somewhere in the upper echelon of the West, we’re fighting for home court advantage,” said Dinwiddie, who had 14 points and a game-high nine assists. “Obviously, we know in the playoffs when you possibly have the best player on the floor every night, you have a chance to win basketball games.
“So it’s about coming together. Our roster is set. It’s just pushing forward and trying to be the most cohesive unit we can possibly be.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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