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Today the Los Angeles Lakers had their 10-game winning streak snapped in a tough loss to the Dallas Mavericks, 114-100. Before tonight the Lakers boasted an impressive 17-2 record. After today’s loss the Lakers now share the league’s best record with the Milwaukee Bucks, 17-3.
It was known that today’s game was going to be a tough one for Los Angeles as Dallas has NBA superstar Luka Doncic. Doncic is currently averaging 30.8 points, 9.9 boards and 9.6 assists, per game. The Lakers also have elite players such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis. James is arguably one of the best players to ever play in the NBA with four NBA MVP Awards and three NBA Finals MVP Awards. In a post-game interview posted by NBA reporter George Efkarpides, Doncic who is only 20 years-old spoke on what it is like to play against King James.
“Growing up I used to watch him a lot so it was something special that game (the first time the Mavericks played against the Lakers). I admire him today too. He was my idol when I was growing up and he still is now so, it’s not different,” Doncic said.
Mavericks vs. Lakers
The Lakers started off the game against the Mavericks with good momentum as they outscored Dallas by five in the first quarter, 30-25. The Lakers kept it up in the second quarter and ended the half ahead, 62-59. It was in the second half that the Lakers struggled to find rhythm and simply could not keep up with the Mavericks. The Mavs went for a 28-to-5 run in the third quarter, to gain a 20-point lead over the Lakers, 87-67. The Lakers’ defense was no match for Doncic’s talent as he poured in 16 points in the third quarter alone. The Lakers picked it up in the fourth but only outscored the Mavericks by one which wasn’t enough to turn the game around. Dallas wound up taking the dub, 114-100.
Los Angeles struggled to defend Dallas’ superstar Luka Doncic as he ended the game just shy of triple double with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Mavs also played solid defense and caused the Lakers to finish the game with 17 turnovers, six were credited to James. Doncic bullied James in the fourth. With just over 5:30 left in the game, James defended Doncic from the top of the three, who showed no fear as he took a few dribbles and did a quick step-back to score a far out three right in his face. James ended the game with 25 points, eight assists and nine boards. Davis led the Lakers with 27 points, two assists and 10 rebounds.
Doncic is only in his second year of playing in the NBA and is already putting up incredible numbers. Last month he averaged 32.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 10.4 assists a game. The 20-year-old closed out the month of November by joining Russell Westbrook (2x) and Oscar Robertson (8x) to become the third player in NBA history to average a 30-point triple-double for a calendar month (min. 5 games), according to ESPN Stats. He is also favored to win this year’s NBA MVP award following only reigning NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After tonight’s win over the Lakers, Dallas now posts a 13-6 record and places fourth in the Western Conference.
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