LOS ANGELES – Part I of the Dallas Mavericks vs. Luka Dončić and the Los Angeles Lakers thriller went to the Lakers, who defeated the Mavs,
107-99, Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The sequel will be April 9 at American Airlines Center. And if Tuesday’s game is any indication, the April matchup promises to be an even bigger doozy.
The Mavs-Lakers game was watched by 2.5 million viewers on TNT, which was the network’s largest audience this season since the NBA’s opening night. That’s how much juice this game was carrying – and it didn’t disappoint.
LA led by as much as 16 points in the first half, but the Mavs battled back and sliced that deficit in half and trailed, 59-51, at halftime. Despite not having injured players Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, the Mavs displayed enough intestinal fortitude to tie the game at 91 with 6:27 remaining.
But unfortunately, the Mavs hit a cold spell down the stretch when they were outscored, 16-8.
“We had good looks that just didn’t go down,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought five possessions there, we had a couple of good looks at threes and some good looks at layups, and it just didn’t go down.
“We kept fighting and we had a lot of opportunities to take the lead, but the ball just didn’t fall for us.”
Dončić finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists, and joined LeBron James and Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history with at least one triple-double against all 30 teams. But Dončić didn’t have one of his signature shooting performances, mainly because the Mavs sent a lot of double-teams his way and forced him into becoming an unwilling passer.
“I’m glad this game is over,” said Dončić, who was 6-of-17 from the field and only made one of his seven three-point attempts. “There’s a lot of emotions.”
The Mavs traded Markieff Morris, Maxi Kleber and Dončić to the Lakers on Feb. 2 for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round draft pick. Tuesday was the
first time Dončić faced the Mavs since that trade.
“We understood, as his teammates, that we wanted to try to get this win for him,” James said. “He probably won’t say it, but I think it means something to him for sure, any time you face your former team.”
Mavs forward Klay Thompson, who won four NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors, downplayed the significance of Tuesday’s game.
“This is a big regular season game, but it doesn’t fit the bill of a Game 7 or an elimination game for a world championship,” he said. “But it is still a big moment.
“Any time you face someone who did as much as Luka did for us, there’s going to be emotions involved. So, I thought we did a good job of playing through that and sticking together.”
Here are the takeaways from the Lakers’ eight-point win over the Mavs.
*LeBron James kicked into a higher gear in the fourth quarter when he scored 16 of his team-high 27 points for the Lakers. James was 7-of-9 from the field and also collected five rebounds and two assists in the fourth quarter. For the game, James finished with 12 rebounds and was 12-of-17 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from downtown.
*Mavs guard Kyrie Irving was a beacon of light for his team. While carrying the Mavs on his shoulders, Irving poured in 18 points in the first half and added 17 more in the second half to finish the night with a game-high 35 points. While playing 40 minutes, Irving was 12-of-27 from the field – he was 5-of-11 from three-point territory – and also contributed seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
*With the Mavs’ top three primary big men on the mend, the Lakers noticed it and schematically took advantage of the situation. Not only did the Lakers outscore the Mavs in the paint by a sizeable 52-34 margin. They also outrebounded the Mavs, 57-45. The Lakers were 26-of-43 on shots inside the paint for a sizzling 60.5 percent.
X: @DwainPrice
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