The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 124-104 on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena behind a vintage effort from LeBron James.
It was the Mavs’ final game before the All-Star break, and they didn’t exactly go out with a bang. The game in LA was lacking a certain amount of star power with both Cooper Flagg and Luka Doncic out with injuries. LeBron James continued his streak of great play, however. He scored 28 points and managed his first triple-double of the season at age 41 with a 28/12/10 night.
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For Dallas, Naji Marshall and Max Christie continued to shoulder the bulk of the Mavs scoring, putting up 19 apiece in the loss.
Group effort
Four of Dallas’ five starters put up double-digit points. It’s become something of an expectation when the Mavs are without their offensive center point. Brandon Williams got the start at the point and not only contributed 17 points, but looked the part of a solid distributor, finishing with 7 assists.
Even with the addition of Tyus Jones — allegedly Dallas’ original free agent target before they signed D’Angelo Russel — Williams remains hard to keep off the floor. His speed towards the rim can really cause fits for some teams, and it’s something the Lakers have had trouble defending all season. Williams hit 1-of-3 from deep, but did most of his damage driving into the paint to power his 6-of-11 night from the floor.
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Third time, not the charm
There were a couple of times in the game where it seemed like the Mavs were letting the rope slip out of their hand early. Right from the jump, LeBron kicked things off with a 14-point first quarter and built a double digit Laker lead barely halfway through the first. Dallas woke up and went on a run of their own to even things out by the end of the frame. Then, the Lakers turned around and built a 13-point lead in the second quarter. Still, Dallas came back and even took a small lead early in the third.
But when LA pushed the lead back over 10 by the close of that quarter, Dallas just didn’t have the gas for another run. Especially with Naji and Daniel Gafford leaving the game midway through the fourth with a couple of injuries.
Khris Middleton, Dallas Maverick
it’s always fun to see a new face in a Dallas uniform. Middleton is not so new to coach Jason Kidd, who coached him in Milwaukee. There was some question as to whether Dallas would release Middleton to allow him to find a team of his choosing, but at least for now, he laced ‘em up for Dallas and went out and scored 8 points in 21 minutes.
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