LOS ANGELES LAKERS (31-43) at MAVERICKS (46-29)
Time: 6:30 p.m., Tuesday.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
TV: TNT.
Radio: The Eagle 97.1 FM; Univision Zona MX 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Lakers: They are in a world of trouble just trying to make the play-in tournament. With eight games remaining, they are in 10th place in the Western Conference, the final seed that gets into the tournament. They were a game up on 11th-place San Antonio before the Spurs’ Monday night game in Houston. The Lakers have virtually no chance of moving any higher than ninth in the West, meaning they will have to win twice in the play-in tournament to make the eight-team playoff field in the West . . . They are coming off a disastrous 116-108 loss at New Orleans in which they were up by 20 points at halftime and were outscored 67-39 in the second half. LeBron James had 39 points, but said after the game he had “no idea how I finished the game, to be honest.” James has been listed as doubtful for Tuesday’s game . . . The good news for the Lakers is that they could be getting 6-10 Anthony Davis back soon from a mid-foot injury. He’s been out since late February, but went through the Lakers’ practice on Monday in Dallas and has been upgraded to doubtful . . . Whether Davis or James play, the Lakers still have three other likely future hall of famers that the Mavericks will have to deal with: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is averaging 18.2 points per game, his lowest number since 2010-11, his second season in the league. Westbrook is playing for his fourth team in the last four seasons (Oklahoma City, Houston, Washington were the others) . . . Malik Monk was drafted 11th in 2017, the year the Mavericks took Dennis Smith Jr. It’s worth noting that Monk’s scoring average has risen every year in the league to 13.2 points this season (on 38.7 percent 3-point shooting).
About the Mavericks: They are sole owners of the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference after beating Utah on Sunday, but with seven games left, moving up to catch No. 3 Golden State is going to be difficult as the Mavericks are two games behind. But the Mavericks do own the tiebreaker on Golden State, so there is hope . . . They haven’t had a 50-win season since 2014-15 (50-32) and before that you have to go back to the championship season of 2010-11 (57-25), which was the last of 11 50-win seasons in a row. They need only go 4-3 in the last 12 days of the season to reach 50 wins . . . After tonight, there are only two home games remaining in the regular season – April 8 against Portland and April 10 against San Antonio. They have a four-game road trip starting Wednesday in Cleveland, which will represent the last back-to-back situation of the season . . . These teams meet only three times this season. The Lakers came to Dallas on Dec. 15 and took a 107-104 victory in overtime at AAC. Luka Dončić did not play in that game . . . On March 1, the Mavericks won at LA 109-104 . . . Spencer Dinwiddie is working on a streak of 15 consecutive games played with double-figure scoring. He’s averaged 18.9 points and 4.2 assists in that run. He also was inactive one game and figures to be inactive Wednesday in Cleveland (or against the Lakers) since he hasn’t played both ends of a back-to-back set yet this season after knee surgery last year. He’s also shot 40.3 percent from 3-point land in that stretch.
Twitter: @ESefko
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