The Los Angeles Lakers were uncompetitive in a 97-118 loss to the Dallas Mavericks without Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Daniel Gafford. This was a shocking result for many fans, with the Lakers coming into this game with a 7-3 record in their last 10.
The game was nationally televised on TNT, which led ‘Inside the NBA’ host Charles Barkley to chastize the Lakers for their performance.
“The Lakers stink, plain and simple. We have to talk about them because the media is infatuated with the Lakers, but they’re not a good team. They have zero athletic ability.”
Barkley made it a point to highlight Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd orchestrating this Dallas win.
“Jason Kidd coached a masterpiece tonight. He said we can go one-on-one and get any shot we want. They got a good shot every time, the Lakers could never keep them in front of them. This was a coaching masterpiece by Jason Kidd because there’s no way the Mavs team that was put out there should be winning by 20.”
"The Lakers stink, plain and simple"
Chuck didn't mince words after Dallas' win tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/3qgdp2Atqz
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 8, 2025
This was an ugly game for the Lakers, who looked unprepared for the Mavs role-players to defend as aggressively as they did. Even without their stars, the Mavericks attacked Lakers defenders individually with on-ball plays from Quentin Grimes (23 PTS, 9 REB, 6 AST), PJ Washington (22 PTS, 8 REB), and Spencer Dinwiddie (19 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST).
Barkley’s comments about Jason Kidd are leading to some believing it was a shot at Lakers head coach JJ Redick. Barkley heavily criticized Redick recently, calling him a ‘dead man walking’ after Redick criticized the presentation of NBA games to the modern generation of fans. The pair have sniped at each other, with fans believing the excessive praise of Kidd is to highlight Redick’s failure against him.
The Lakers are 20-16 on the season, currently holding the No. 6 seed in the West. They shouldn’t have lost to the Mavericks given the franchise was without their stars, were on a back-to-back, and had lost their last five games. In addition, this was the Mavs’ first win without both Doncic and Irving in over a year, with the last 10 games ending in losses.
The Mavericks exploited the Lakers’ weaknesses with surgical accuracy and JJ Redick didn’t have a counter. This was one of his worst coaching performances in his young career, but Redick has kept the Lakers far more competitive than many expected the franchise to be. He deserves his credit, although losses like tonight highlight he still has a lot to learn in his current role.
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