It’s been a rough week for the Los Angeles Lakers as far as injuries go with both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves being ruled out for the remainder of the regular season.
Despite that, they looked to end the week on a high note when they traveled to take on the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night. The Lakers were unable to do that, however, as they lost to the Mavericks, 134-128.
LeBron James and Rui Hachimura had the first seven points for the Lakers, but Cooper Flagg matched them with seven of his own to give the Mavericks a quick 14-7 lead.
After the timeout, it was more James and Hachimura, while Deandre Ayton also got going inside and Jarred Vanderbilt connected from deep to give the Lakers their first lead. Despite that though, the Lakers continued to have no answer for Flagg, who had 19 points in the first quarter and ended it with a flurry to put the Mavericks up 41-30 going into the second.
Dallas’ run continued into the second quarter with Klay Thompson catching fire and then Flagg hitting again to extend the lead to 22.
With the Lakers needing a spark, James provided it with a pair of dunks to spark a quick 10-2 run. After a Dallas timeout, James continued to put on the pressure with a 3-pointer.
The Lakers went on another run to end the first half as Luke Kennard hit a triple and then James completed a three-point play to get the deficit all the way down to 67-61 going into the locker room.
Kennard continued to fill up the statsheet, notching the first triple-double of his career in the third quarter. Unfortunately though, turnovers were an issue for the Lakers, allowing the Mavericks to get out in transition to get their lead back to double digits.
Defending the 3-point line was an issue for the Lakers as Thompson, Flagg and P.J. Washington hit a bunch of open looks. James and Jaxson Hayes connected for a three-point play to keep L.A. within striking distance, but they still trailed 107-97 going into the fourth.
Jake LaRavia was playing some nice defense on Flagg early in the fourth quarter and then threw down a dunk in transition to cut Dallas’ lead to five.
As seemed to be a theme all night though, the Lakers could never quite get over the hump. They had another costly turnover and struggled on the defensive glass. Once the Mavericks got their lead back to double digits, they cruised to victory.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers have four regular season games remaining, three of which will be at home, starting with Tuesday’s rematch against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
