LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA- The Mavericks knew going into this game they would be challenged on both ends of the floor, and needed to get it going fast from the floor. The Mavericks started the game at a solid pace converting high percentage shots which resulted in an early lead in Los Angeles. After a quick start the Mavericks began to take an conservative approach and avoided shooting perimeter shots, which led to Dallas surrendering their early lead.
Luka Doncic did not have an attempt from behind the three point line in the entire first half which could have contributed to the Mavericks deficit. Despite his conservative approach Doncic finished the first half with 11 points and Dorian Finney-Smith stepped up as well scoring 10 points and knocking down 50% of his shots from the floor.
The Lakers had a solid start to their first half and their superstar tandem Lebron James and Anthony set the tone early in this game.
James finished the first half of the game with 14 points 7 assists, and Davis finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Both of the LA superstars shot 50% from behind the arc while the team collectively shot 44.4% and 61.4% from the field. Dennis Schroeder also had a solid performance hitting 4 shots out of 5 finishing the first half shooting 80% from the field.
The coined “bench mob” has yet to show its face after an impressive showing in the preseason. Dallas’s bench was outscored 21-15 by the Lakers bench and continued to show their dominance throughout the night.
The Mavericks also struggled rebounding the basketball giving up 14 points on second chance points in the first half while converting none. Going into halftime the Mavericks trailed the defending champion Lakers 57-69 which is the 2nd time so far this season the Mavericks have trailed at halftime.
Entering the third quarter the Lakers continued to extend their lead while the Mavericks tried to keep up. Dallas began to play much better and Trey Burke led the charge for the Mavericks off the bench. Burke hit 66.7% of three point shots and went 55.6% from the field knocking down 4 out of 6 shots, which helped the Mavericks narrow the lead, but not by much.
Luka Doncic finished the 3rd quarter with 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists and hit 2 out 4 of his attempts behind the arc.
Rick Carlisle spoke about the Los Angeles Lakers stand out defense throughout the playoffs last season and the difference it made. The Lakers applied that same defensive intensity in the 4th quarter and created opportunities off turnovers and also continued to out rebound the Mavericks increasing their total of second chance points to 35 on the night and didn’t do so throughout the entire game.
Even though the Mavericks trailed, they began to chip away at the Lakers lead after Josh Richardson hit two three point shots after struggling in the first three quarters and hit all three of his shots in the fourth and Boban Marjonovic also scored 6 points coming off the bench.
This wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit the Mavericks faced, as the Lakers continued to out rebound the Mavericks and increase their second chance point total to 35 compared while the Mavericks still had not converted a second chance point all night.
Montrezl Harrell played a big part in accomplishing this, scoring 22 points off the bench and tallied 5 offensive rebounds. Kyle Kuzma also contributed late in the fourth knocking down 2 out of his 3 shot attempts from the field in the fourth quarter, helping the Lakers seal their lead and win their first game of the season beating the Mavericks 138-115.
What hurt the Mavericks the most in their loss to the Lakers tonight was the inability to rebound the basketball and giving the opposing team a second chance to score. With the caliber of schedule the Mavericks have, it is vitally important for this team to start playing a more complete cohesive brand of basketball, and attempt to reverse course as quickly as possible.
