DALLAS — They should have known what was coming for them, the kind of night that is easier than any other to predict in the NBA.
By the time the Mavericks left the court a loser Monday night in Memphis, it was clear they’d only be a shell of themselves by the time they got back to Dallas, where the Lakers were waiting. Luka Doncic was hurt. Kyrie Irving’s back had him sidelined. And center Daniel Gafford’s sprained ankle meant another key piece for Dallas would be unavailable for a game Anthony Davis labeled a “must win” after the Lakers lost in Houston on Sunday.
Yet every season teams get caught on nights like this, their feet a little heavy, their reactions too slow against a roster energized by the power of opportunity.
“They was waiting on us; it seemed like they was licking their chops,” Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith said.
More shots, more minutes, more chances — the momentum only builds as players gain confidence. And Tuesday, even though the Lakers had more talent, they couldn’t stop the waves crashing into them.
Dallas beat the Lakers 118-97, the Mavericks blowing the doors off the Lakers in the second half despite being without their key offensive options minus Klay Thompson.
“I’m not sure what our rotations were.,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “I’d never seen us try to execute what we were doing. I haven’t watched the film yet. Just watching it live and talking to the assistants who did watch it on film, we’re not sure what was going on with the shift positioning and the rotations …Never seen it before.”
The Lakers were flat on offense, the ball rattling out and off the rim. They were clueless on defense. And they paid for it. Following a stretch where the Lakers won eight of 11 games, the team has now dropped two in a row, getting swept on a Texas roadtrip.
“I mean, it sucks, obviously, especially knowing where we were and how well we’ve been playing,” forward LeBron James said.
Former Laker Spencer Dinwiddie scored more than double his season average. Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy doubled their averages off the bench. P.J. Washington scored 10 more than his average. No matter who had the ball, Dallas attacked the Lakers guards and put the defense into help situations they couldn’t handle. Over and over.
Washington finished with 22 points, Dinwiddie had 19. Grimes scored 23 and Hardy added 15. The Lakers’ point-of-attack defensive failures helped create wide open threes for the Mavericks, who made 18 of them.
“We just didn’t do a good job of playing good basketball,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “That’s really it.”
Davis scored 21 points to lead the Lakers on a night when their offense was toothless, even though LeBron James nearly had a triple-double: 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
And as their defense faltered, their offense was stuck in the mud, the misses piling up until Redick mercifully pulled his regulars in the final minute.
Davis declined to speak postgame.
He missed 11 of his shots. Reaves missed nine of his. The Lakers ended up shooting 45.3% but it felt way worse — probably because of the defense.
“It felt like we played a little tired tonight,” Redick said.
The Lakers return to Los Angeles for their next eight games, a stretch when they need to rebuild the momentum they lost in Texas.
“We can’t really dwell on it too much,” James said. “That’s the name of the game of the NBA. You see what you could’ve done better but you gotta get ready for the next opponent and we got another game coming on Thursday in our home building.”
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