The first quarter for the Los Angeles Lakers was the complete opposite of how they came out the previous night, but once they settled in, it was a wrap for the Dallas Mavericks.
LeBron James led six players who scored in double-figures, and the defense stymied a hot Mavericks offense as the Lakers prevailed 114-103 to complete a sweep of their back-to-back.
They trailed by 10 after the first quarter, allowing the Mavericks to hit five 3-pointers on the way to 32 points, but locked in from there. Dallas did lead by as many as 15 points in the second quarter but hit just five threes in the final three periods.
The Lakers outscored them by 21 points during that time, holding Dallas to just 25.6 percent shooting from deep and only 39.5 percent from the field overall.
Lonzo Ball was the catalyst on defense end early, coming up with five steals to go along with 10 points to light the spark. LeBron James took over from there, finishing with 28 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, including the dagger three late in the fourth.
Kyle Kuzma had a huge second half to finish with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds while also adding 6 assists. Tyson Chandler also had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope continued his strong play, scoring 13 points off the bench.
Not to be outdone, Brandon Ingram had one of his best two-way performances of the year. Ingram finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while also guarding Rookie of the Year frontrunner Luka Doncic for much of the night and holding him to just six points on 2-for-13 shooting.
With their second straight win the Lakers are now 13-9 and currently sit at sixth in the Western Conference, just 2.5 games behind the first-place Clippers. Next up is a Sunday matinee game with the Phoenix Suns.