On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers resumed their NBA season with a road game against the Dallas Mavericks, following their victory in the league’s inaugural in-season tournament in Sin City.
All three of these players—LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Luka Doncic—were able to suit up for their teams despite suspicious tagging. On the other hand, Jarred Vanderbilt and Kyrie Irving were both cut. The Lakers’ season record plummeted to 14-10 after the Mavericks prevailed with a final score of 127-125.
Both teams made some careless mistakes in the first few minutes of the game. Davis finally got a reversal to go as the score was tied at six after missing a couple layups.
Following a rapid 5-0 run by the Mavericks, the Lakers’ Taurean Prince made the first three-pointer of the game. Unfortunately, Davis was sent to the bench early after picking up his second foul.
As expected, the Lakers’ offense faltered without James and Davis. After coming off the bench, Rui Hachimura scored five consecutive points to help Los Angeles close the first quarter deficit to 34-26.
The Mavericks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. got off to a blazing start, and he carried that momentum into the second quarter with another triple before Austin Reaves answered with a layup. As a result of the Lakers’ defensive lockdown, they were able to cut into their deficit while LeBron James scored at will.
However, Dallas continued their run because Doncic was unable to be stopped from getting to the free throw line by Los Angeles. The Mavericks were suddenly ahead 13 points when Seth Curry made a deep shot.
The Mavericks, who were on fire from the 3-point line onward, took advantage of the Lakers’ turnovers, which plagued them for some time. Going into halftime, the Lakers were behind 71-61 despite scoring six consecutive points to remain in the game.
At halftime, Davis was walking around with what seemed like a groin problem; nonetheless, he returned to the game to begin the third quarter. In the early third quarter, James was the hero for Los Angeles on both ends of the floor. Following a triple by James and a baby hook by Davis, the Warriors cut their deficit to five points, forcing Jason Kidd to call a timeout.
The Lakers went on a run to end the third quarter, extending their lead to their longest since the beginning of the game. That was mostly due to Davis, who scored five consecutive points—including a triple that beat the buzzer—to put his side up 95–93 entering the fourth quarter.
At the start of the fourth quarter, James scored to make it 10-0. Grant Williams and Dante Exum then made three-pointers to end the run.
As the game entered the fourth quarter, Doncic, Hardaway, James, and Davis remained the leaders of their respective teams, exchanging baskets to tie the score at 108. Nevertheless, Dallas scored five unanswered points in a row after two Lakers errors, with Exum continuing his torrid shooting from beyond the arc.
Although Doncic lived up to expectations, the Lakers still had trouble with the Mavericks’ other players, such as Hardaway, Exum, and Williams.
For Dallas, Prince was identical; in the closing two minutes of regulation, he sank a triple to get the Lakers within four. However, Exum took advantage of the Lakers’ repeated mistakes by dribbling into an open basket for a third straight corner triple.
The Lakers’ inability to respond from that point on sealed their fate in defeat.
