Mavs Merry Christmas! Doncic, Wood Lead in Dallas' Win Over LeBron's Lakers
In part of the NBA's Christmas Day action, Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks squared off with LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers. The Mavs came out on top with 124-115 being the final score, improving their record to 18-16 on the season.
Doncic led the way for Dallas in his second Christmas Day game, finishing with 32 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals while shooting 9-16 from the field, including 2-3 from deep. Doncic also shot 12-16 from the free-throw line and was a team-high +24 in 39 minutes.
As we predicted in our game preview on DallasBasketball.com, Christian Wood was due for a breakout game. What better way to break out than to face a Lakers' squad missing its defensive anchor in Anthony Davis? Wood finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks while shooting 12-17 from the field in his first-ever Christmas game. It was Wood's best performance of the season.
It was a slow start for the Mavs as they trailed 23-9 at the 4:42 mark of the first quarter. Dallas was generating many open shots, but they often could not convert. The Mavs did rally back to outscore Los Angeles by a 12-5 margin by the end of the period but still trailed 28-21.
LeBron James was on the floor for much of the minutes the Mavs deployed their bench unit in the second quarter. He did a lot of damage in those situations and played an integral role in the Lakers outscoring Dallas 26-22 in the period, resulting in a 54-43 deficit for the Mavs.
After halftime, the Mavericks managed to put a lot of pressure on the Lakers' defense in response to sending double-teams at Doncic. Dallas tied a franchise record for points within a single-quarter (51) in the third period, outscoring Los Angeles by a staggering 30-point margin. It was the most points ever scored in a single quarter of an NBA Christmas game.
The Lakers continued to often send doubles at Doncic, but the Mavs were breaking them apart with Wood in the short-roll. The threat that Wood posed to score often drew an aggressive defensive rotation on the catch, leading to no shortage of opportunities to find open shooters and cutters. There was no coming back for Los Angeles after how dominant of a third quarter the Mavs managed to pull off.
James finished with 38 points for the Lakers, but he just didn't get enough from his supporting cast for it to matter. Doncic has now won two consecutive games against James, improving his one-on-one record with him to 3-6.
The Mavs return to action on Tuesday when they take on Jalen Brunson's New York Knicks. It will mark the first time for Brunson playing at the American Airlines Center since departing from the Mavs in free agency.
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