The Los Angeles Lakers needed a win tonight to keep their lead for the 5th seed in the Western Conference on Tuesday night. But in a disappointing showing at the American Airlines Center, the Lakers failed to capitalize on a Dallas Mavericks team without their two best players (Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic).
The Lakers were at their best in the first quarter, taking a 27-24 lead to give the fans hope of a win. But as the game progressed, the Lakers fell off on both ends of the floor until the Mavericks built a double-digit lead that they rode to win the game. The final result (118-97) wasn’t even close and the game will be marked as another blemish this season for the Purple and Gold.
Starting with the Mavericks, Quentin Grimes was their leading scorer with 23 points (8-17 FG), 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in 29 minutes. P.J. Washington totaled 22 points and 8 rebounds on 9-14 shooting. Veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 19 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds on 8-15 shooting. Klay Thomson contributed 13 points (5-10 FG) and 2 assists.
Finally, for the Lakers, Anthony Davis finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks while LeBron James put up 18 points (6-12 FG), 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Austin Reaves tallied 15 points, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds in 32 minutes.
After losing on Sunday to the Houston Rockets, the Lakers needed a win tonight to get back on track and avoid losing some progress they had made over the past few weeks. Instead, they failed yet another test due to a variety of factors that may hold them back from competing in the West.
Lakers Bench Couldn’t Keep Up
The Mavericks were shot 52.3% for the game and the Lakers just couldn’t keep up. Arguably the biggest source for their struggles offensively tonight was the bench unit, which was outscored 50-25 by the Mavericks’ second unit.
To be frank, the D’Angelo Russell trade hasn’t brought the desired changes so far and the Lakers could have used him tonight for his shooting and playmaking. Instead, they had to settle for Dorian Finney-Smith, who is still finding his place within the Lakers offense.
Without the depth to support the starters, the older and veteran Lakers team couldn’t sustain elite play through the entire game, which explains why they got progressively worse. As usual, the supporting cast is a big problem for the Lakers, and they will likely look to address it before February’s trade deadline.
Mavericks Dominated The Glass
One particular area of concern for the Lakers is rebounding. With Anthony Davis playing center, he’s always leading the team in rebounds but they’ll need more than him to avoid getting bullied on the glass.
Against the Mavericks tonight, the Lakers had no answers as guys like P.J. Washington and Quentin Grimes dominated the boards. Due to a well-balanced effort across the roster, the Mavericks finished with 44 rebounds, including 11 offensive rebounds.
The Lakers, meanwhile, only had 33 rebounds for the entire game and the only three other players outside of Davis and LeBron had more than a single rebound: Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jaxson Hayes. After the game, many fans pointed to the fact as evidence of the team’s lack of effort.
No-Show From Anthony Davis
The Lakers’ plan was to run their offense through their star big man, but he failed to deliver on almost all fronts tonight. Besides looking slow and disconnected all night, Davis was completely phased out at times when the Mavericks brought him out to the perimeter and forced him to shoot jumpers.
Davis, who was -19 in the game, shot just 7-18 from the floor and missed a lot of easy shots around the rim. Without him playing aggressively and consistently hitting his inside shots, the Lakers just simply don’t have enough to keep up with a team like the Mavericks, who still have a lot of scorers even without Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Daniel Gafford.
Davis is the engine of the Lakers and when he plays badly like he did tonight, it’s almost impossible for the Lakers to recover. After watching his game tonight, most fans can agree that Davis needs to step up as a leader by taking smarter shots and being a more consistent scoring threat for his team.
Needless to say, the past two games have been a disaster for the Lakers and the good vibes created early in the season are starting to fade away. If they don’t turn it around soon, or Rob Pelinka doesn’t shake the roster even more, the situation could reach a breaking point this season and sour another stretch of LeBron James’ career.
Their bid for redemption starts as early as Thursday, January 9th, against the Charlotte Hornets at the Crypto.com arena. Next, they play the San Antonio Spurs in a back-to-back set on January 11th and 13th, with both games set at the Crypto.com arena at 10:30 PM EST.
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