Fantastic LeBron Leads LA Lakers to a Routine Win Over Dallas Mavs, 129-114

LA Lakers posted a big win over the Dallas Mavericks in Texas, 129-114. The guests from Los Angeles controlled the match right from the start and until the end, exploiting all the advantages they had, with LeBron James leading the way without injured Anthony Davis. On the other side, Luka Doncic had a lot of problems, was frustrated and wasn’t at the usual level.

The Lakers opened the contest fast, and after allowing Dallas the opening two points, they scored eight straight themselves. Then once more, the LAL had a 10-0 burst, moving them to 24-9, and the guests continued to roll over the Mavs during the opening sequence, which eventually closed 45-27.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOZzItJVP3o

Rick Carlisle was very unhappy with some calls on the floor, and he went after the refs at one moment, getting a tech. The Mavs’ coach was near being ejected, but he stayed in the game. Meanwhile, Doncic was more than frustrated due to all the beating he received, and all the misses he had, with the young Slovenian ripping his jersey after a series of missed free throws.

“Disappointing start. We really weren’t good in any area,” explained Mavs’ head coach.

On the other side, the Lakers were pounding at the same pace, with Kyle Kuzma dropping 21 points, and LeBron posting 19 buckets, 9 boards and 6 dimes until the break.

“Every time I get big minutes, I produce the best I can. I’m a rhythm player and when I get a chance to keep that rhythm, my game shows,” Kuzma said about his stats in the first half.

What was very interesting is that the guests who were without Anthony Davis scored twice as many points from the paint in those two periods, 40-20.

Dallas looked a bit more lively after the pause, managing to come down to 101-91 with 3:36 let in the third. Yet, that was just temporary.

Lakers roared their way in the last sequence making an 11-3 burst, and during that stretch, Carlisle got ejected because of his justified remarks on the officials we need to add. They did have some calls which weren’t pretty much logical.

“As someone in a leadership position you have to stand up for your guys . . . There were things going on out there that were frankly shocking,” he said.

Rick Carlisle gets tossed 🤬
Questionable timeout was given to Frank Vogel while attempting to challenge the out of bounds call on LeBron pic.twitter.com/uOQ3VF5xnT

— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) January 11, 2020

Lebron James had 35 points 16 boards and 7 assists in 32 minutes on the court, shooting 14-of-25 from the field. He passed Michael Jordan on the all-time FG made list.

“It is just pretty cool to be linked with the greats,” LBJ stated. “You say the name Michael Jordan, and it means so much to me anytime I’m linked with his name, with his greatness.”

Kyle Kuzma was the X-factor, replacing Davis’ and scoring his share of the buckets. The guy who is in the middle of the trade talks between Sacramento and the Lakers delivered 26 points. Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard ended the night with 10 points each.

The Lakers had a much better shooting percentage, 52.9%, while Dallas stopped at 40.6%. The home team was also worse from the three-point area, 28.9% 11-for-38, compared to 41.7% of the guests, 10-for-24.

Luka scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds with 7 assists. The reigning Rookie of the Year also had 6 turnovers. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 22 and Seth Curry 16 off the bench.

The Mavs (23-15) stay in Dallas and await the Philadelphia 76ers also tomorrow night. Doncic and the boys head for San Francisco and Sacramento following this event.

On the other side, the Lakers (31-7) travel immediately to Oklahoma City, to play their second of back-to-back nights against the Thunder. After that, Frank Vogel’s boys have a clash with the Cavaliers at home on Monday.