The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day, 138-115. Anthony Davis had 28 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead Los Angeles, while Luka Doncic scored 27 points in the loss to the Mavericks.
Dallas opened the game against Los Angeles much more clearly after the lackluster opening effort against the Suns. With Luka Doncic playing almost the entire quarter, the Mavericks remained within reach, despite the Lakers running and scoring in the transition and second chance opportunities. Dallas lost 33-30 after twelve minutes of action.
Things went wrong in the second quarter, with the bench unit looking confused. Tim Hardaway Jr. kept the Mavericks within reach, saving Dallas from a series of possessions. Dallas stayed close, despite repeated mistakes because of Laker’s numerous upsets. In the last second, Kyle Kuzma three increased Laker’s lead to twelve; Dallas lost 69-57 in the interval.
The third quarter felt like waking up from a low-quality holiday nap, with the Lakers scoring twice in a row and Rick Carlisle asking for a break almost immediately. Things didn’t get much better for Dallas, with Josh Richardson taking his fourth foul soon after. The Mavericks found a goal rhythm, but, as in the first half, failed to guarantee rebounds and Los Angeles kept up the pressure. The Lakers increased their lead to two on the scoreboard and the Mavericks lost 99-85 to fourth.
A strangely built unit started the fourth half, with Boban Marjanovic taking significant minutes, in fact, reduced Laker’s lead to one digit. But a quick flurry of points after a Lakers timeout pushed the lead back to double digits. The Mavericks never recovered and ended up breaking, 138-115. They are now 0-2 and face the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday afternoon.
Luka Doncic has to be better
Josh published an entire column on the effect of Luka’s drip not starting the game well for the Mavericks. But it’s worth mentioning again because with Doncic’s lackluster first half, Dallas has dropped just enough that there isn’t much more to add.
He is not in good shape and it becomes clear at the end of his time on the floor when the kicks are short and he is frustrated with his own game. It is difficult to dance because there is no great answer as to why he is not in good shape after being in great shape in Orlando.
When playing against really good teams, Luka Doncic has to be much better for the Mavericks to win. Until Kristaps Porzingis returns, there will be games in which this may not be much fun.
Recovery is a matter of effort and the Mavericks have not tried hard enough
The Mavericks were absolutely crushed on the plates. I’ll leave the statistics more detailed for our next article “Stats Rundown”, but suffice it to say that Dallas was pathetic on the boards and no one is exempt. Maxi Kleber led the Mavericks with five rebounds, to give an idea of how bad it was. I’m also sure that Dallas didn’t score any second chance points. Pathetic.
It all comes down to effort. There was a play on the third in which the ABC camera had that terrible side view, but we got a great look at Luka coming out of Kyle Kuzma’s work. Dwight Powell has no base or strength to box. Willie Cauley-Stein, despite all the fuss, had two boards in 14 minutes and seemed listless and out of position. The Lakers are bigger in many positions, it is true, but being worked so early and often around Los Angeles is unacceptable. Six Lakers players had more rebounds than the Dallas rebound leader.
Jalen Brunson has to break through the fog he’s playing
A variety of bad moves that fell on the fourth against the Suns overshadowed how bad Jalen Brunson was in the Phoenix game. This agitation did not save Brunson against the Lakers.
You may be thinking that I’m not being fair in choosing Brunson’s play to focus on considering how bad the Mavericks looked. Maybe yes. But after his three terrible turns in 18 minutes against the Suns, he had three more credited to him in 14 minutes against the Lakers. In fact, he committed all three to just seven minutes of playing time, and in my notes, I made two more that were added to his teammates’ line of statistics.
All of his decision making is poor, from the dribble to the late passes due to excessive dribbling, to the selection of kicks. And it was mostly difficult in the preseason too. I was never a big Brunson guy, but he is much, much better than he has been playing and if he doesn’t find out something he will lose his minutes. Maybe it’s the recovery from shoulder surgery that has driven him crazy. I hope it improves over time. Mavericks also need it.