Doncic Leads Dallas Mavericks to a Win Over Los Angeles Lakers, 114-100

Dallas Mavericks got even with the Los Angeles Lakers for an undeserved defeat on November 1. They snapped a 10-game winning streak of the hosts at Staples, handing them the third loss of the season. The team from Texas destroyed Frank Vogels’ side after the break, posting a 114-110 triumph.

“It’s a great win that means a lot to us,” Doncic said. “It shows that we can play against big teams, too. We just need to keep it rolling.”

The contest had two completely different halves. The first one was with Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the leading roles, and the second included a masterful performance by Luka Doncic. The Lakers’ duo dropped 35 points before the break, and on the other side, the Mavs’ superstar posted just 6. But he would add 21 in the second.

Luka Doncic drops 16 3rd quarter PTS for the @dallasmavs on League Pass! #MFFL pic.twitter.com/WmenDd55M4

— NBA (@NBA) December 1, 2019

The Mavs had a fantastic third period in which they demolished the Lakers with 35-17. Doncic and the guys had a 17-0 series in the moments when they completely broke the hosts, went from 70-67 to 87-67, and silence the Staples Center.

In those moments, Luka has been playing around with all the guys in purple and gold, including LeBron. The reigning rookie of the year dropped 16 points in that sequence alone.

The Lakers would try to come back in the final period, but they simply couldn’t get by superb Doncic, who intimidated all of his rivals tonight. With some three and a half minutes to go, after the Slovenian stole the ball from LBJ, King James was visibly frustrated, and that moment marked the end of all hopes for the hosts. Previously, he was knocking down threes over one of the greatest ever players, like he wasn’t there.

“There’s just a small handful of guys in the whole world that can hit them. LeBron James is one of them. He’s one of them. Those step-back 30-footers, it’s hard to describe how difficult the shot is, and how easy he makes it look.”

Anthony Davis didn’t want to be pessimistic in front of the media, telling everyone that this is just one game.

“We’re not going to get down over this loss. We know what type of team we are, we know now. We played well. And they beat us, but we beat ourselves with the rebounding, so we know what we’ve got to do better,” said Davis.

Luka was one rebound shy of another triple-double, concluding the night with 27 buckets, 10 dimes, and 9 boards. He had a nice help from Dwight Powel with 15 points and 9 rebounds, Kristaps Porzingis with the same number of buckets and 6 boards. Also, Dallas’ bench was very good, as Delon Wright delivered 17 points and dimes, while Justin Jackson scored 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qbFF4l-qr0

As for the Lakers, they had just LeBron, who was near a TD with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists but with 6 turnovers, and Davis who posted a double-double with 27 points and 10 boards. The next in the line was Alex Caruso, with only 10 points.

Dallas outrebounded the hosts 51-46, and also had a much better three-point percentage, 17 for 49 compared to 7 for 27.

Up next, the home team who leads the league with 17 wins and 3 defeats plays against the Denver Nuggets in Colorado. It will be the battle between the top two seeds in the Western Conference, which could mean a lot in the end. After that, LBJ and the guys have two more challenging stops, the first in Salt Lake City vs. Jazz and in Portland against Melo and the Trail Blazers.

Meanwhile, the Mavs (13-6) go to New Orleans to meet the Pelicans on Tuesday and come back home to clash with Minnesota.