Lakers fall to Mavs late in the 4th quarter, dropping their 3rd straight game.
All night leading up to the 4th quarter the Lakers played a decent ball game holding Mavs star Luka Doncic from really going off as he finished with 18 points, often trapping and doubling him throughout the game. The game plan for the Lakers was to keep Luka Doncic contained and all that attention allowed other players on the Mavs to have a huge scoring night as the Lakers dropped their 3rd straight game tonight losing to the Mavericks 108–93. Tonight’s loss puts the Lakers season record at 35–25 still staying alive in 5th place and moved the Mavs right behind the Lakers in 6th place in the West.
In last Thursday’s loss to the Mavs Luka Doncic went off for a game-high 29 points and that made tonight’s game plan for the Lakers to keep him from getting hot. The Lakers game plan was to double Doncic all night and that opened things up at the rim for the Mavs frontcourt to have a huge night. Frank Vogel said it was “How we were guarding Luka” as to why Dwight Powell had such a big night and getting to the rim with ease. Mavs Dwight Powell finished with a game-high 25 points on 11 for 12 (91.6%) total from the field. In his 38 minutes of action, Luka Doncic finished with a near triple-double of 18 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds on 6 of 15 (40%) shooting from the field.
The Lakers had 4 players score in double figures in tonight’s loss, all coming from the starting unit. The Lakers had little presence coming from their bench tonight as they were missing Montrezl Harrell, who didn’t play tonight due to a coach “DNP” decision. The starting unit attributed 73 of the Lakers 93 points as the bench finished with 20 points in tonight’s loss. Frank Vogel spoke of the decision of not playing Montrezl Harrell in tonight’s matchup saying:
“We need to keep all three centers sharp. He [Harrell] was great with it, he understood.”
Anthony Davis’ second game back was one step closer to getting his legs back as he still had rust trying to knock down shots going 5 for 19 (26.3%) from the field and 0 for 6 (0%) from the perimeter. Davis finished with 17 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds in his 28 minutes of action. Kyle Kuzma spoke on Anthony Davis’ rust in his return from injury saying:
“At the end of the day, it’s Anthony Davis. He’ll find his rhythm sooner than later, this is the first time he’s getting 5-on-5 action in (over 2 months).”
Ben McLemore started in place tonight at shooting guard for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was out of the Lakers lineup due to a right ankle sprain. McLemore came out the gates red hot, knocking down his first four threes in the first quarter. In 29 minutes, McLemore finished with a Lakers high 20 points on 6 for 10 (60%) shooting from the three-point arc and 7 for 12 (58.3%) total from the field. In his first start for the Lakers, Frank Vogel said Ben McLemore filled in for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope “admirably” tonight.
Dennis Scröder had a tough night shooting from the field as he finished with 16 points on 7 for 18 (28.8%) shooting from the field and 2 for 8 (25%) from the three. Schröder finished with another double-double adding 10 assists to his 16 points in 36 minutes of action in tonight’s loss.
With the western conference standings looming, Kyle Kuzma spoke on the Lakers record not being too concerned about their record saying:
“It matters for other teams in the league, but I don’t think it matters too much for us.”
The Lakers are currently in 5th place in the West and if they drop out of 6th place in the 7th or 8th seed they will then have a due or die, 1 game series against the 9th or 10th team in the west at the end of the season. Being in the top 6th in the West would give the Lakers a much-needed week of rest before the playoffs, which is something this Lakers team can benefit from.
The Lakers will travel to Orlando this Monday to face the 18–41 Magics for their 3rd game of a 4 game road trip. Look for the Lakers to get back on track and play Lakers basketball against a low standing Magics team.