The Los Angeles Lakers were back in action on Black Friday, hosting Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks as Luka Doncic faced his former team for the first time this season.
The Lakers already clinched West Group B in the Emirates NBA Cup by winning their first three games, but they had a chance to finish undefeated in group play in this one. They were able to take care of business, beating the Mavericks 129-119 to improve to 14-4 on the season and earn home-court advantage for their quarterfinal matchup in the NBA Cup.
It was a nice start for the Lakers as Austin Reaves hit a triple and then Doncic found LeBron for an alley-oop. After a transition layup by Reaves, the Mavericks took an early timeout with the Lakers leading 10-7.
Former Laker Max Christie got the Mavericks going with a pair of 3-pointers, and then Davis caught an alley-oop of his own.
Dallas was blitzing Doncic early so he was focused on getting his teammates involved until James found him for a 3. That got him going as despite picking up two personal fouls and a technical, Doncic still had 10 points in the first quarter and the Lakers took a 28-22 lead into the second.
With Doncic on the bench, James and Reaves were taking turns running the Lakers’ offense, although Klay Thompson hit back-to-back triples to keep Dallas close. Davis then cut the deficit to just one with a dunk, forcing a Lakers timeout.
It wasn’t a great close to the half for the Lakers as they had some silly turnovers that allowed the Mavericks to take advantage. Reaves was the only one that could get anything going offensively and the Lakers trailed at the half, 62-60.
After a quiet first half, James got going with back-to-back buckets early in the third. Rui Hachimura then hit a pair of triples to cap off an 11-2 run.
While Reaves stayed hot from deep, Dallas was matching him with some triples of their own. Doncic found James for a layup in transition at the end of the quarter, but then the Mavericks beat the buzzer for L.A.’s lead was 98-94 going into the fourth.
Dallas’ hot shooting continued into the fourth as they would not go away and eventually regain the lead. The Lakers eventually said enough is enough though as Reaves had another crafty finish at the basket and then Hachimura connected from deep.
Once the Lakers got the lead to double digits, they cruised to victory from there.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will return to the court on Sunday night when they host the New Orleans Pelicans in the first leg of a back-to-back before welcoming the Phoenix Suns to town on Monday.
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