The evenings follow and the result is similar for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. The latter won their second victory in 48 hours against the defending champions (108-93). But this time the way was very different. After a close match from start to finish on Thursday (115-110), that of Saturday gave rise to two halves almost in one direction. In favor of the Lakers for the first (58-46 after having counted 17 units in advance, 54-37, in the 22nd) and in a spectacular way for the Mavericks after the break (62-35).
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This is the third consecutive defeat for the Californians, still deprived of LeBron James (ankle). For his second game back from injury (calf), Anthony Davis again appeared lacking in rhythm with a meager 5/19 shooting (including 0/6 three-pointers) for 17 points. Faced with him, Luka Doncic was also put in difficulty by the many two-way strikes by the Lakers’ defense (6 of 15 shooting, 6 ball losses) but he still scored 18 points and mainly served his teammates with 13 assists in total (plus 8 rebounds).
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Dwight Powell, career point record
For the Mavericks, the performance of the evening is to the credit of Dwight Powell, author of his record of career points (25) at the end of an almost perfect night of shooting (11 of 12) at the American Airlines Center. As a symbol, it was he who gave Dallas the advantage in the fourth quarter (89-87, 43rd) after a good service from Doncic. The Lakers were then powerless, weighed down by their three-point clumsiness (27% to 12 of 45) and their absence on the rebound (51-36 in favor of Dallas).
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With this result, the Mavericks, sixth in the Western Conference, are only one victory away from the champions in the standings. The Lakers must also be careful not to continue their slide because they have only two and a half wins left on the seventh place which would force them to a perilous dam.
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