Mavs hoping dramatic win over Lakers could be the start of something magical

LOS ANGELES – Dramatic wins like the one the Dallas Mavericks collected over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night are the type of games that could galvanize a team.

At least that’s what the Mavs are hoping.

The Mavs pulled out an improbable 111-110 victory Friday in the shadows of Hollywood by outscoring the Lakers, 6-1, in the final 7.2 seconds. Afterwards, as Kyrie Irving fired a pass to Maxi Kleber, who made the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer, coach Jason Kidd talked about the trust the players have among each other.

“I think a lot of times with trust it’s easy to go through the good times when everybody trusts,” Kidd said. “To lose some games, to be tested, that trust is also going to be tested, and if you can stay together good things will turn if you still believe that.

“Kai and Luka (Doncic) preach that in the locker room, and we just got to continue to stay together and keep playing and good things will happen. And you can see that here on this road trip, and not just (Friday), but in San Antonio, too.”

The Mavs had the ball and a two-point lead with just 1.8 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s game in San Antonio. But a turnover by Kleber on the inbounds pass, then Keldon Johnson slipped behind Kleber for a lob dunk that tied the game and sent it into overtime.

Kleber, though, made up for those twin mistakes against the Spurs when he went on a personal 6-0 run down the stretch and became the hero in the game against the Lakers.

“I’m glad that it worked out for Maxi,” Irving said. “I felt like that (game-winning three-pointer) was a redemption shot for him as well because he was putting a lot of pressure on himself after that turnover in San Antonio, and rightfully so.

“As hoopers and players, we really want to take care of the basketball at the end of the game and win. So I think he got a chance to do that (Friday) and we came out again on top.”

Before getting the ball to Kleber in the waning seconds, Irving saw other options he thought about turning to.

“I also missed a few people,” he said. “I had Theo (Pinson) wide open underneath the rim.

“(Pinson) told me after the game he was unsure whether or not he was going to make (the shot).”

That brought laughter from Irving, who scored 38 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out six assists in his first game after missing three contests with right foot soreness.

Pinson was only in the game to inbound the basketball, which he successfully did to Irving. Although Pinson played just those last six seconds of the game, Kidd reiterated the importance of his crucial role at that juncture of the game.

“Kai and Maxi will get a lot of the attention, but Theo did two things,” Kidd said. “He got the ball in to Kai and then he rolled, which I think took (Anthony Davis) away from Maxi.

“So that left Kai with Maxi, and (Kleber) did the hardest part when he made the shot.”

When asked how does his foot feel after playing 39 minutes against the Lakers, Irving said: “I just need to take care of it. I said this a few days ago, it’s a little bit worse than I thought, but I’m just going to manage it.

“I’m not going to sit up here and make excuses. On to the next game.”

For the Mavs, the next game is Monday in Memphis as they attempt to make a clean sweep of this three-game road trip before returning home to host the defending world champion Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

“If you look at the standings in the West, obviously every win counts, especially that one (over the Lakers),” Kleber said. “It was just big-time for us to get two wins in a row and we just got to continue.

“It doesn’t really matter how ugly or pretty the wins are. We just got to somehow find a way, and that’s what we did (Friday). We showed a lot of character (Friday). Everybody stayed in the game, especially mentally, and that was a big thing for us.”

Briefly: The Mavs stayed overnight in Los Angeles and will fly to Memphis on Sunday for Monday’s game against the Grizzlies. . .In six games since returning last month from hamstring surgery, Maxi Kleber was just 3-of-10 from the free throw line. His seventh game was Friday against the Lakers, and Kleber was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in that contest. That includes converting all three of his free throws to get the Mavs within 109-108 of the Lakers with just 7.2 seconds remaining in the game. “I haven’t been shooting free throws well as of late, so obviously it’s something that I’ve worked on and got to put more focus on,” Kleber said. “I just stepped to the line and did my routine and lived with the results. But you’ve got to find your routine and rhythm. Obviously, big shots for me, too. I felt very special. That’s why I’m obviously very happy, and so are my teammates for however the game ended (Friday).”. .As the Mavs players, coaches and staff stormed the court following Kleber’s game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer, Kyrie Irving went into protection mode. As in trying to protect Kleber, who was on the floor being mobbed by his teammates. “I was to the left of Maxi trying to make sure that we didn’t squish him or anything like that, because I’ve seen pileups like that and people get injured,” Irving said. “I was just trying to hold my weight up and make sure guys weren’t toppling over him.” Kleber didn’t get hurt in the pileup. “It was fun,” Irving said. “It was a great celebration as a team. I think J-Kidd was in the pile, right? I think he forgot he was a player for a second. That’s the way we’ve got to celebrate as a team because we know how hard we’re working.”. . The Mavs, who are seeded sixth in the Western Conference with a 36-35 record, are hopeful of having Luka Doncic back for Monday’s game in Memphis. That way they can prepare for the final 11 games of the regular season with all hands on deck. Doncic has missed the last four games with a left thigh strain. “Everybody is giving their all, and as we get healthy I think that’s just going to make us that much stronger,” Kidd said. “Hopefully we can get LD back here soon and then we can start to get a rhythm here down the end of the season.”. .Before Kleber’s buzzer-beater against the Lakers, Jerry Stackhouse was the last member of the Mavs to convert a game-winning buzzer-beater in Los Angeles. Stackhouse performed his game-winner against the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 12, 2008 when he buried a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 95-94 victory for the Mavs. With two Clippers crowding Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry got the ball into Stackhouse’s hands, and Stackhouse did the rest.

Twitter: @DwainPrice