Lakers: Luka Doncic, Christian Wood Overpower LA In Physical Double-OT Dallas Win
Tonight, at a sold-out Crypto.com Arena, your Los Angeles Lakers managed to grind their way back from a 19-point Dallas Mavericks lead to push the Dallas Mavericks to not one, but two overtime periods... before ultimately running out of steam late against, frankly, a better club. The final margin? 119-115, meaning the Mavericks beat the spread, as I predicted (albeit just barely).
The loss dropped LA to a 19-23 record, while the win helped the Mavs snap a two-game skid to elevate their record to 24-19.
Getting LeBron James (and Troy Brown Jr.) back from their respective injuries this evening sure work wonders for the Lakers' efforts tonight.
After both teams traded buckets for the start of the game's first quarter, the Mavericks took over. At the end of that initial frame, Dallas led 36-22. Reserve point guard Russell Westbrook led LA with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor:
Brown was the Lakers' next leading scorer in that first frame with six points, on 2-of-2 shooting from deep. Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic, starting center Christian Wood, and possible trade target small forward Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way for Dallas with nine points apiece.
LA quickly got outpaced by a Mavericks scoring burst to open the second quarter, and was down by as many as 19 points before mounting something of a comeback. In service of that, LeBron James did some LeBron James things:
In the early goings of a very physical contest, game officials held their whistles often, leading to plenty of grievances on both sides -- especially from James and Doncic. The Lakers tried to cut the Mavericks' 59-48 lead to single digits with a hair under a second remaining the first half, but James was denied a foul call by the refs.
At the break, Westbrook already had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, while James had 11 on 4-of-10 shooting. Doncic had scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting (2-of-4 rom deep), six rebounds, and five dimes. A courtside Mark Cuban was suddenly on triple-double watch.
19-year-old rookie shooting guard Max Christie showed plenty of moxie throughout the night, including securing this key offensive rebound to set up Westbrook's first triple of the game (but not his last) in the second period:
Christie, who got the starting nod at the two-spot with Patrick Beverley out sick, score seven quick points in two minutes to help Los Angeles stay within nine, 77-68. This slick up-and-under off a cut inside was especially cool:
This triple got LA's lead to within single digits:
A stifling Lakers defense, thanks in large part to the swarming efforts of Christie, Westbrook, and Wenyen Gabriel, stymied the Mavs' attack in the third period, and allowed Los Angeles to outscore Dallas 28-23 during the frame. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Mavericks suddenly led by just a couple possessions, 82-76.
Kendrick Nunn, back in Darvin Ham's rotation thanks to injuries to Lonnie Walker IV, Austin Reaves and Beverley, had a fearless shooting night for the Lakers, and though it wasn't always pretty (he finished the night shooting 4-of-11), he made some huge buckets, including back-to-back treys to keep the lead close at the top of the quarter.
LA made a point to relentlessly cover Doncic with double teams, rendering him more of a passer in much of the final frame.
Westbrook looked like at least Houston Rockets-era Brodie tonight, confidently backing guys in for smart takes:
And also being overly confident from deep (although it paid off tonight):
What had looked like a lopsided Dallas defeat turned into a back-and-forth affair for most of the bout's final frame, and LA found itself up three with just seconds remaining in regulation.
Unfortunately, Darvin Ham decided to forgo his largely successful strategy of double-teaming Luka Doncic at the exact inopportune time. The 6'7" All-Star guard had missed both of his prior field goal tries in the period with Lakers draped all over him, but, with LA defenders all staying home and only Troy Brown Jr. in his way, Doncic was able to nail a deep three against Dennis Schröder at the six-second mark to tie the game at 101-101.
Troy Brown Jr. tried to respond at the other end with a three attempt of his own, and even appeared to draw some (seemingly inadvertent) contact while being blocked by Tim Hardaway Jr., but the refs did not feel there was a foul, and the game head to its first overtime period.
The fifth quarter was shockingly even. Both teams played tough defense and looked to role players to help bear the offensive load. My favorite moment came with an exchange of flushes between Spencer Dinwiddie and Wenyen Gabriel, with each alternately guarding the other on a switch:
Gabriel responded in kind:
James had an opportunity to score on a baseline drive with 2.9 seconds remaining, but Christian Wood stuffed the shot, sending the game to its second overtime period!
Offensively, Dinwiddie actually dominated that fateful second bonus frame, scoring six of the Mavericks' 11 points. Defensively, it was all Christian Wood, who recorded his fourth and fifth (!) blocks of the night in the final overtime. The Mavericks outscored the Lakers 11-7 to win by four, 119-115.
One big lineup note: for some confusing reason, Ham began favoring 6'9", 205-pound power forward Wenyen Gabriel over starting 6'10", 248-pound center Thomas Bryant in the second half. Gabriel played more minutes (13:56) than Bryant (9:56) in the game's third and fourth quarters. Gabriel played almost the entirety of both overtime periods (9:48), while the bulkier, longer Bryant rode pine. Could the smaller, slighter Gabriel's presence be the reason Christian Wood looked so dominant in the paint late? Possibly, but you know Darvin Ham loves playing small whenever he can.
A terrible free-throw shooting night for the Lakers (63% on 17-of-27 shooting) was salvaged only by an even worse free-throw shooting night for the Mavericks, on significantly lower volume (52.9% on 9-of-17 shooting). The Lakers' shooting from the floor in general (39.3%) was significantly worse than the Mavericks' (50%). Though LA as a team actually did a better job of protecting the ball than Dallas (the Mavericks had 16 turnovers to the Lakers' nine), the Mavericks managed to capitalize, scoring 18 points off LA turnovers to the Lakers' seven.
Luka Doncic notched a high-scoring triple-double: 35 points on 14-of-28 shooting from the floor, while pulling down 14 boards, and dishing out 13 dimes. Wood scored 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, grabbed 14 boards, passed for six assists, and blocked five shots.
Westbrook scored a Lakers-most 28 points on 10-of-23 shooting (including a surprising 3-of-6 from deep), grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists. James scored 24 points on a terrible 9-of-28 shooting, and though he had a near-triple-double of his own (16 rebounds, nine assists), he settled for jumpers far too often early in shot clocks, costing his Lakers crucial possessions.
Los Angeles gets its next opportunity to return to the winners' circle against another formidable foe, the Philadelphia 76ers, on Sunday.
