The Los Angeles Lakers returned to the grind of the regular season on Tuesday three days after winning the first NBA in-season tournament over the Indiana Pacers. Throughout the tourney, the Lakers played with impressive intensity, especially on the defensive end, where they have been strong the past month or so.
They headed into Texas looking to continue that momentum against the Dallas Mavericks, who were 14-8 and in third place in the Western Conference entering Tuesday.
The Lakers fell behind by double-digits in the second quarter when Dallas got hot from 3-point range, and they hurt themselves by committing 10 first-half turnovers, leading to a 71-61 deficit at the break. They finally found their defensive prowess in the third quarter, outscoring Dallas, 34-22, and taking a 95-93 lead at the end of the period.
But the Mavs sliced and diced L.A.’s defense down the stretch, resulting in a 127-125 loss for LeBron James and company.
Los Angeles’ deficiencies in 3-point shooting were on display. It entered the game next-to-last in 3-point attempts per game, and it went 15-of-29 from downtown. That gave the Lakers better accuracy from that distance than the Mavs, but the Mavs were 21-of-43 from beyond the arc, giving them an extra 18 points on made 3-pointers. L.A.’s inability to help and recover on Luka Doncic, who had 17 assists, was a big reason for the Mavs’ large number of 3-point attempts and makes.
In particular, Dante Exum, a former lottery pick who played overseas the last two seasons, killed the Lakers by going 7-of-9 from downtown. Five of his treys came in the fourth quarter. His 3 with just under a minute left put the Lakers down by six and pretty much ended their comeback hopes.
The Lakers (14-10) head southwest to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday and Friday.