On Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Center as the Mavericks continue their five game home stand. This is arguably the biggest game for the Mavericks, as they could secure a tie for the sixth seed in the western conference standings with a win. The opportunity has prevented itself for the Mavericks to grab the sixth seed, can they do it remains to be seen. The Mavericks could erase all the negativity with a win here in this matchup.

On Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Detroit Pistons in the third game of their five game home stand at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks started this game absolutely sloppy and unprepared as the Pistons were in control for the majority of the game until the Mavericks offense finally woke up in time to grab a 67-58 lead at halftime. The Mavericks never looked back from there as they were able to hold onto the lead and control of the game for a 127-117 win. The Pistons completely fell apart in the second half as there were plenty of opportunities for them to steal it back from the Mavericks, but the Mavericks kept grinding and pounding just enough for a win. Luka Doncic finished the game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in the win. The Mavericks also got production from Jalen Brunson as he provided 20 and 5 assists off the bench. With the win, the Mavericks record improved to 31-26 on the season, as they are now just 0.5 game from the Portland Trail Blazers for the crucial sixth seed in the western conference, to avoid playing in the “Play-In Tournament”. The Mavericks were waiting forever to get this close to the pivotal sixth seed and now since they’re bumper-to-bumper, it will be up to them to grab it and take it from the Portland Trail Blazers. It’s easier said then done, but all the Mavericks need to do is take care of business for reminder of the season and the sixth seed (or higher) is theirs. The Mavericks would have to earn it as the schedule gets tougher with little margin of error with every game carrying its weight. The Mavericks have no time to play foolish basketball as the most important time of the season comes right now.

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming into this game by going 5-5 in their last 10 games. They are recently coming off a 111-97 loss against the Utah Jazz on Monday to see their record drop to 35-23 on the season. The Lakers are coming into this season with tremendous hopes of trying to make another appearance in the NBA Finals as they’re one of the favorites in the western conference to reach the finals. The Lakers are currently fifth in the western standings as they’ve been devastated by injuries to their co-superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. This team is led by LeBron James as they look to make another crack at reaching the NBA Finals and go back-to-back. If their current trend continues, they will go into the playoffs on a sour note as their superstars make their way back onto the court. They would receive good news as Laker Nation would come to learn that one of their superstars, Anthony Davis, will make his return to the court to face the Mavericks in this matchup. The Lakers want both of their superstars to get some playing time before the playoffs begin to defend their championship.

Coming into this game, the Mavericks played the Lakers on the second game of the season and lost 138-115 on December 25th, 2020. The Mavericks previously lost their regular season series last season 3-1 against the Lakers. Overall, the Lakers hold the all-time series with a record of 113-48.

The Mavericks started this game by having Maxi Kleber (low back contusion) and Tyrell Terry (personal reasons) be ruled out for this matchup. As a result, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Richardson, Powell, Finney-Smith and Porzingis as their starting five in this game. Lakers superstar, Anthony Davis would indeed return to the court as he was in the starting five for the Lakers. The first points in the game would belong to Kristaps Porzingis as he nailed a free-throw for the Mavericks to get this game underway. The Lakers wouldn’t get their first points until the 11:21 mark as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drilled a three pointer to take their first lead in the game at 3-1. The Lakers were able to extend their lead to 8-3 after Kyle Kuzma knocked down a jump shot to take a five point lead with 8:14 left in the quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 9:14 left in the quarter as the Lakers were able to take a 14-6 lead. Prior to this timeout, the Lakers got off to a fantastic start as they made five of their first eight attempts while the Mavericks were cold as they only made two of their first four attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks simply cannot allow their offense to wake up when it wanted to because they will get blown out fast by this hungry Lakers team, especially in the first game with Anthony Davis back on the court. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic but couldn’t convert as he turned the ball over which kept the score at 14-6 with 8:55 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to trim their deficit to two points after Kristaps Porzingis knocked down a “bank” jump shot while being fouled. The Lakers would call a timeout with 7:34 left in the quarter as they wanted to “ice” the “AND-ONE” free-throw for Kristaps Porzingis with the Mavericks trailing 14-12. Coming out of the timeout, Kristaps Porzingis would knock down the “AND-ONE” free-throw to come within 14-13 of the Lakers. The Mavericks would reclaim the lead as Josh Richardson knocked down a jump shot to take a 17-16 lead with 6:29 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to get off on a nice scoring that they needed in order to compete with the Lakers. The Lakers would call a timeout with 4:30 left in the quarter as the Mavericks were leading 22-20. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks offense started to roll as they were able to generate a 16-5 run to remain in control of the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Lakers turned to Markieff Morris but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer that kept the score at 22-20 with 4:09 left in the quarter. The game would find its way to be tied after Montrezl Harrell nailed a layup to tie the game at 22-22 with 3:44 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to grab control of the lead and take a 31-26 lead into the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Kristaps Porzingis as he scored 11 points for the Mavericks. The Lakers were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he scored 7 points. The Mavericks were able to play good defense as that would translate to good quality offense that they needed in order to remain competitive in the game. At the end of the quarter, the Mavericks were shooting 55% on 11-of-20 shooting from the field. The Mavericks are 19-0 on the season when having a lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter would begin by having Anthony Davis nail a two pointer for the Lakers to get this quarter underway. The Mavericks wouldn’t get their first points in the quarter until the 11:09 mark as Tim Hardaway Jr nailed a two pointer to extend their lead to 33-28. The Lakers would trim their deficit to three points after Montrezl Harrell knocked down a slam dunk to come within 35-32 of the Mavericks with 10:11 left in the quarter. The Mavericks would extend their lead to seven points after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down two free-throws to extend their lead to 42-35 with 9:05 left in the quarter. The momentum in the quarter would belong to the Mavericks thus far, as they were playing good basketball on both ends of the court while the Lakers were still adjusting to the game with Anthony Davis back on the team. The Mavericks were able to go on a roll with their offense starting to heat as Luka Doncic knocked down a free-throw to extend their lead to 45-35 with the Lakers “icing” Luka by calling a timeout with 8:06 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were able to generate a 7-0 run to remain in control of the game. The Mavericks opened the quarter by making three of their first eight attempts while the Lakers started the quarter by making four of their first seven attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks were out-scoring the Lakers 14-9 in the quarter thus far. Coming out of the timeout, Luka Doncic would miss his second free-throw attempt that kept the score at 45-35. The Lakers would turned to Anthony Davis but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer that kept the score at 45-35 with 7:49 left in the quarter. The Lakers finally got a bucket to go down as Montrezl Harrell knocked down a layup to come within 46-37 of the Mavericks with 7:19 left in the quarter. The Mavericks would extend their lead to ten points as Dwight Powell would knock down the twenty-first free-throw as a team for the Mavericks (thus far) to take a 49-39 lead with 6:00 minutes left in the quarter. The Lakers were struggling shooting the ball as they had a tough time to get the ball to go down until Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked down a jump shot to come within 51-43 of the Mavericks, that forced Rick Carlisle to call a timeout with 4:03 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Lakers were able to generate a 8-3 run to trim their deficit to single digits. The Lakers were so lucky to find themselves only down by eight points as the Mavericks couldn’t capitalize on their offensive woes, otherwise this would’ve been a different game and the Mavericks would’ve started to pull away from the Lakers. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Kristaps Porzingis as Luka Doncic found Porzingis on a alley-oop attempt to extend their lead to 53-43 with 3:43 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 62-51 lead into halftime. The game leading scorer after two quarters of play would belong to Kristaps Porzingis as he scored 15 points for the Mavericks. The Lakers were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he scored 11 points. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks were shooting 48.8% on 21-of-43 shooting from the field. All the momentum and control would belong to the Mavericks as they were able to play good basketball on both ends of the court with the Lakers doing absolutely nothing to threaten the Mavericks in the game.

Coming out of the half, the Lakers were able to get on the board first in the third quarter by having Kentavious Caldwell-Pope nail a three pointer to come within 62-54 of the Mavericks. The word would came out with the Lakers announcing that Anthony Davis would not return to the game as he reached his minutes restriction the Lakers had for him in the game. The Lakers would generate a quick 8-0 run after Dennis Schroder knocked down a jump shot to come within 62-59 of the Mavericks, that forced Rick Carlisle to call a timeout with 10:49 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Lakers opened the quarter by making two of their first three attempts while the Mavericks had a tough time getting a attempt as they missed their only attempt taken thus far. Now, the Lakers were playing the Lakers that we’ve been accustomed to seeing throughout the season as their offense started to click in the opening minutes of the quarter thus far. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Josh Richardson but couldn’t convert as he missed a floating jump shot that kept the score at 62-59 with 10:33 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to generate a 7-0 run after Kristaps Porzingis knocked down two free-throws to extend their lead to 69-62 with 9:14 left in the quarter. The Mavericks offense started to heat up again as Luka Doncic knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 72-62 as that forced the Lakers to call a timeout with 8:47 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were able to generate a 10-0 run to maintain control of the game. The Mavericks made three of their first five attempts taken thus far while the Lakers made three of their first five attempts taken. Coming out of the timeout, the Lakers turned to Andre Drummond as he was able to convert on a layup to come within 72-64 of the Mavericks with 8:29 left in the quarter. The Lakers offense started to cook as they were able to trim their deficit to three points after Dennis Schroder knocked down a three pointer to come within 72-69 of the Mavericks with 7:46 left in the quarter. All of a sudden this game quickly got interesting as both teams started to heat up in the quarter. The Lakers were coming for the Mavericks as they were able to come within two points after Dennis Schroder knocked down a three pointer to come within 76-74 of the Mavericks with 6:27 left in the quarter. The Lakers would grab the lead and erase the Mavericks lead after Alex Caruso knocked down a three pointer to give the Lakers their first lead in the second half at 77-76 with 5:42 left in the quarter. The Mavericks picked the wrong time for their offense to go quiet as the Lakers found their rhythm on offense and used that to grab control of the lead and game thus far. Whatever was said in the locker room at halftime from the Lakers apparently got through as they looked like a completely different team. The Lakers were able to extend their lead to four points after Andre Drummond knocked down a two pointer to extend their lead to 83-79 with 3:59 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to comeback and grab control of the lead and take a 94-90 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Luka Doncic as he scored 26 points for the Mavericks. The Lakers were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he scored 23 points. The Lakers simply dominated the Mavericks in the quarter as their offense was clicking on all cylinders. The Mavericks looked like they “gave a quarter to the Lakers” to put it in “boxing terms” as they were getting outplayed by the Lakers. Through three quarters of play, the Mavericks were shooting 51.6% on 32-of-62 shooting from the field. The Mavericks would need to play “excellent” basketball in the final 12:00 minutes of the game if they want to find themselves victorious and tie with the Portland Trail Blazers for the crucial sixth seed in the western conference standings. It would all come down to these crucial 12:00 minutes to see if the Mavericks could find away to leave the arena with a big win.

The fourth quarter would begin by having Willie Cauley-Stein nail a slam dunk for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Mavericks would extend their lead to nine points after JJ Redick knocked down a three pointer to take a 99-90 lead with 10:33 left in the game. The Lakers weren’t able to get their first points in the quarter until the 10:20 mark by having Montrezl Harrell nail a layup to come within 99-92 of the Mavericks. The Lakers would call a timeout with 9:36 left in the game after the Mavericks extend their lead to 101-92 on a JJ Redick two pointer. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making three of their first five attempts while the Lakers opened by making just one of their first two attempts. The Mavericks were able to generate a huge 7-2 run to begin the quarter to keep control of the lead and the game thus far. The Mavericks could sense it as they would need to play good basketball for the reminder of the game and they would reward themselves with a huge win. Coming out of the timeout, the Lakers turned to Ben McLemore but couldn’t convert as he would turn the ball over which kept the score at 101-92 with 9:27 left in the game. The word would come out from the Mavericks as they announced that Kristaps Porzingis would not return to the game after twisting his ankle which could become pivotal in the Mavericks process of trying to find a way to win this game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 7:53 left in the game after the Lakers trimmed the Mavericks lead to 103-98 after Montrezl Harrell knocked down a slam dunk. Prior to this timeout, the Lakers were able to generate a 6-2 run to remain in the game. The Mavericks would need to prevent the Lakers from generating any momentum in the game as the Lakers were right there to overtake the lead from the Mavericks. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Dwight Powell but couldn’t convert as he missed a alley-oop attempt from Luka Doncic that kept the score at 103-98 with 7:28 left in the game. The Lakers were able to trim their deficit to four points after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked down a three pointer to come within 105-101 of the Mavericks with 6:07 left in the game. The Mavericks would extend their lead to seven points after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a free-throw to extend their lead to 108-101 with 4:49 left in the game. The game looked like in would come down to the final minutes to determine the winner of the game. The Lakers would call a timeout with 4:04 left in the game after the Mavericks extended their lead to 110-101 after Luka Doncic nailed a driving layup. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks offense started to heat up as they were able to generate a 5-0 run to maintain control of the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Lakers turned to Dennis Schroder but couldn’t convert as he lost the ball which kept the score at 110-101 with 3:54 left in the game. The Lakers were able to trim their deficit to four points after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked down a three pointer to come within 110-106 of the Mavericks with 3:00 minutes left in the game. A HUGE THREE POINTER by Dorian Finney-Smith as he was able to extend the Mavericks lead to 113-106 with 2:02 left in the game. The Mavericks desperately needed that shot to go down to remain in control of the game and protect their lead. The Lakers were able to trim their deficit to five points after Andre Drummond knocked down a alley-oop to come within 113-108 of the Mavericks with 1:09 left in the game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 35.8 seconds left in the game with the Mavericks leading 113-108. Prior to this timeout, the Lakers were able to generate a 7-3 run to stay within reach of the Mavericks. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Willie Cauley-Stein as he was fouled with the Lakers deciding to play the “foul game” with 31.6 seconds left in the game. Willie Cauley-Stein would knock down a free-throw to extend the Mavericks lead to 114-108. The Lakers got a quick buck from Kyle Kuzma as he was able to knock down a “tip-in” shot to come within 114-110 of the Mavericks with 19.6 seconds left in the game. The game sealing points would come to Jalen Brunson as he knocked down a free-throw to extend their lead to 115-110 with 18.3 seconds left in the game.

This team looked like they were the ones that came prepared to play as the Lakers couldn’t get anything to go right for them which allowed the Mavericks to grab a 62-51 lead at halftime. If the Mavericks could play good basketball and play with confidence, the Lakers would stand no chance in the game as they looked completely lost on both ends of the court. This was huge game for the Mavericks as they could tie with the Portland Trail Blazers for the crucial sixth seed in the western conference standings. The Mavericks would need to take care of business as this is not a two-quarter game, it’s a four-quarter game and the Lakers still poised a threat to generate something that makes this a game.

In the end, it was the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 115-110. The Mavericks record would improve to 32-26 on the season as they now won two straight games. Luka Doncic finished the game with 30 points and 9 rebounds in the HUGE WIN. The Lakers were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he finished with 29 points. The Mavericks also got production from Kristaps Porzingis as provided 19 points and 6 rebounds before he left the game with an apparent ankle injury. This was a huge win for the Mavericks as they are now tied with the Portland Trail Blazers for the crucial sixth seed in the western conference standings. The Trail Blazers hold the tiebreaker over the Mavericks, so the Mavericks would need to finish with one win better than the Trail Blazers. We would see if Kristaps Porzingis would be able to play in the next game.

The Mavericks will continue to play the Los Angeles Lakers as they will host them at the American Airlines Center again on Saturday in this “mini” two game series.