Luka, Kyrie Stifle Los Angeles Lakers' Near 20-Point LeBron-Fueled Comeback
LOS ANGELES — Coming off two consecutive losses, the Dallas Mavericks sought to bounce back in a road matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers — marking the start of a two-game stop in Hollywood. The Mavs came out on top, winning 104-101 to improve to 10-5, while the Lakers dropped to 9-7.
There was a hot initial spurt from the Mavs, jumping out to a 10-5 lead following a pull-up 3 from Kyrie Irving. The Lakers quickly responded, tying it up 10-10. Both teams put together a tightly contested game in the first quarter, with neither team leading by more than five points. Dallas was up 29-25 at the end of the period.
The Lakers became aggressive with sending double teams at the ball when the Mavs had only Doncic on the court, with Irving's minutes being staggered. Doncic was poised to drag the doubles wide to create weak-side passing chances while attacking as a scorer within the game's flow when he returned to the floor.
"Sometimes they double me, sometimes no," Doncic said "In the first half, they almost were always in Channel 5, and they're done with me all the time, so it's just rhythm."
Richaun Holmes and Dante Exum checked into the game during the first quarter, with the Lakers deploying a double-big lineup with Anthony Davis and Christian Wood. The Mavs continued to deploy Holmes instead of Dwight Powell in the rotation.
"Amazing," Docnic said of Holmes' performance. "I owe him a dinner."
With a considerable advantage in perimeter shooting execution, the Mavs first took a double-figure lead at the 8:36 mark of the second quarter, using a corner make from Josh Green, who finished the half with 12 points.
The Lakers failed to rally back before the break, resulting in Dallas holding a 62-46 advantage. After Austin Reaves managed to bank in a half-court shot before the buzzer before halftime, the officiating crew waved it off.
The Mavs received a lot of activity from Dereck Lively II doing the dirty work, but he left the game after falling awkwardly on his ankle. He hit the ground hard after a failed alley-oop exchange with Doncic, then could not get off the floor for quite a while. All his teammates checked on him before being unable to put weight on his left foot as he was helped off the floor.
Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic throws a pass with Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis pressuring.
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The Mavs often played out of double-drag screens to make the Lakers' bigger lineup have to guard in space and be mindful about avoiding switching to avoid giving up mismatches. Dallas managed to sustain a double-figure advantage throughout the third quarter, leading by 20 points at the end of the period.
Doncic was on the floor to begin the fourth quarter to ward off any Lakers comeback effort. Los Angeles did manage to pull off a 13-2 run to begin the final period, resulting in the Mavs' advantage being cut to single figures at 93-84 with 7:09 left to play.
A made 3-pointer by James cut the Mavs' advantage to just five points. Then he followed it up with a made finish at the rim to make it a three-point game. Suddenly, Dallas went from leading by as many as 20 points to needing to play another clutch game.
"We gave ourselves a fighting chance, but it's kind of tough when you go down that many points, especially going to the fourth against a high-powered offense," James said. "I like our defense in the last 12 minutes. It's got to be better for the first 36."
The Lakers came up empty on two trips to the free throw line, while Doncic and Irving each scored using a floater, pushing Dallas up seven points with over three minutes left to play in the final period. Los Angeles responded with a made 3 from James, then a floater by Taurean Prince — making it a two-point game with 2:20 left.
After a successful challenge overturned a trip to the free throw line for Doncic, Reaves got into the paint using a ball screen for a finish to tie it up with under two minutes left. James converted on a putback, serving as a go-ahead basket for the Lakers.
"No, I should be upset we won?" Kidd asked. "The game's over. Now, we move on to get ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow and again have practice on Friday. There's no one upset. That's a great game against a very talented team."
Irving responded with a made 3 to put the Mavs back ahead 102-101 with under 30 seconds left; then, the defense forced a turnover off a pass by James. Irving went to the free throw line after an intentional foul and made both, extending Dallas' advantage to three points with 2.8 seconds left to play. James had a potential game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer but missed.
"Resilience and no fear attitude," Irving said. "We knew that we had them against the ropes. We should have won by a little bit more, but they're a great team, and you have to give them credit.
Doncic finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals despite having an underwhelming fourth quarter. Irving racked up 28 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals, with his clutch play proving essential to win the game. Green finished with 15 points and three rebounds.
"We have quarterbacks — Luka and Kai," Kidd said. "The trust is high. We get a great look. It's up to, a lot of times it's not going to be Luka or Kai — a lot of times they're going to get double-teamed, but Luka gets double-teamed, and he makes one heck of a pass to Kai. Kai is in no panic — catches and shoots the ball, hits a big shot for us to win."
Before going down with injury, Lively had contributed two points, 10 rebounds, and three assists in just 19 minutes. Holmes logged a season-high 23 minutes, finishing with four points, 10 rebounds, and one assist, making the most of his opportunity against a tougher Lakers frontcourt led by Anthony Davis. However, Davis was contained to only 10 points but added 13 rebounds and four assists on the night.
James scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to fuel the Lakers' comeback effort, totaling nine rebounds and seven assists overall. Austin Reaves was the Lakers' second-highest scorer with 17 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Other standout performances included D'Angelo Russell with 15 points and five assists as Taurean Prince chipped in 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
As recently as Saturday, the Mavs held a double-figure lead in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks before ultimately allowing a comeback, resulting in a disappointing road loss. Dallas avoided a similar outcome.
The Mavs return to action on Saturday when they return to Crypto.com Arena to face off against the Clippers for the second time since acquiring James Harden in their blockbuster midseason trade.
