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Luka Doncic on Importance of Mavs Home-Court Advantage; Chasing Warriors for 3rd

Russell Westbrook, Lakers No Answers For Luka Doncic

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic dominated the Los Angeles Lakers with a 30-point triple-double.

The Los Angeles Lakers had no answer for Luka Doncic or the Dallas Mavericks in their 128-110 loss on Tuesday. The Lakers allowed the Mavs to score a staggering 82 points in the first half, with Luka Doncic accounting for 25 points, five rebounds and six assists by the break.

In the early going, the Lakers couldn't stop Doncic in the pick-and-roll. Dwight Howard, who started at center with Anthony Davis sidelined, simply was overmatched in these situations. 

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
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Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

The Lakers opted to play without having a big on the floor for much of the remainder of the game. With the Mavericks' three-guard lineup ready to attack against the Lakers' switching, there just wasn't the necessary personnel available to slow down Doncic and Dallas offense overall. 

Lakers coach Frank Vogel made it clear after the game that his team executed poorly when trying to contain Doncic. The blame was spread across the board by Vogel. 

“Not good enough. In any way,” Vogel said. “This is one of the most prolific offenses in the league. The Luka Doncic pick-and-roll is as tough to prepare for, is as tough of an action to slow down, as any in the league. And with a lot of guys out we had to come in and execute at a high level.

“And we executed very poorly to start the game and really that whole first half, with what our game plan was. And then as we tried to adjust to look at some Plan Bs and Plan Cs, we just didn’t execute well enough and play with enough toughness, IQ, intelligence, focus and fight in that half. So, not acceptable and just a poor performance across the board. Coaches, players, everybody."

Los Angeles Lakers
Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers
Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks

Doncic finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in 30 minutes. He recorded a 30-point triple-double in just under 23 minutes, which broke his previous NBA record for the fastest such triple-double in history. 

Westbrook, who defensively offered little resistance to Doncic and the Mavericks, wasn't interested in discussing potential solutions for containing Doncic. 

“I wasn’t personally trying to figure it out,” Westbrook said. “I’m only one person; it’s a team game. So I don’t have an answer. You may have it.”

The Lakers (31-44) entered Thursday 10th in the Western Conference and back inside the play-in tournament.

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