Luka Doncic has a triple-double, the Dallas Mavericks overcome the suffocating Lakers after 2 extra periods
The latest game Friday, January 13 is between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. Welcoming the Dallas players at the Crypto.com Arena home, LeBron James and his teammates were eager to bring home a victory to raise their hopes of attending the Playoffs.
Entering this match, not only without Anthony Davis due to persistent injuries, the Lakers also did not have the services of Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV.
On the other side of the line, Luka Doncic is in a fierce race for the MVP title of the season, maintaining a very high form since returning from injury. In terms of squad, Dallas does not have the service of striker Maxi Kleber and pitcher Josh Green.
The first half took place with a fairly active game for the away team. Luka Doncic and his teammates continuously took the lead with familiar pick and roll phases.
The climax of the half when the Dallas Mavericks ran an 11-0 run, causing coach Darvin Ham on the LA Lakers side to constantly use the right to timeout.
Despite a rather "burning" half with 11 points, Russell Westbrook still could not help the LA Lakers shorten the gap. LeBron James and Russell Westbrook continued to carry the LA team in the second half with individual play situations.
It seemed that the Lakers would equalize the score before entering the halftime break, but Dallas poured cold water on the efforts of the home team players. They scored 10 points in a row, including 8 points from Luka Doncic to lead 59-48.
After the break, the young players on the Los Angeles Lakers side began to heat up, making the match more intense. The gap when the third half ended was shortened to only 6 points.
Suddenly bursting with 2 consecutive 3 points on the first day of the 4th half, Kendrick Nunn helped the Lakers players take the lead. Since that time, the two teams have been constantly tit-for-tat, making the audience present at Crypto.com Arena stand still.
After 2 free throws by Russell Westbrook to give the LA Lakers a 3-point lead to save the first match with only 12 seconds left, the superstar moment appeared again. Still the name Luka Doncic, he made a cool 3-point phase when the first game only had 6 seconds to help the Dallas Mavericks bring the game into the OT.
In this five-minute extra time, the Dallas Mavericks were the better players. Spencer Dinwiddie suddenly shone with 8 points, including 2 decisive points to help the Dallas Mavericks take the lead by 5 points when the game time was less than 1 minute.
But with that short time, the LA Lakers could not do the miracle to retain a home win. The final score was 119-115, the Dallas Mavericks took a brave victory.
MVP in this match is definitely Luka Doncic with a triple-double of 35 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists. This statistic will fuel the Slovenian players in the race to the MVP title.
Right behind is striker Christian Wood with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Hardaway Jr played quite well with 22 points, 8 rebounds. Although he was dead in official time, Spencer Dinwiddie knew how to shine at the right time when he got himself 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, most of which came in extra time.
Russell Westbrook is the LA Lakers' highest scorer with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists despite only coming on from the bench. LeBron James also nearly got himself a triple double today with 24 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists.
With this important win, the Dallas Mavericks overcame the LA Clippers to take the 5th place in the West. In the next round, they will have a trip to the Portland Trail Blazers field, the match will take place at 10 am on January 15.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, this was their third consecutive loss. The next appearance of James and his teammates is at 9:30 am on January 16, against the Philadelphia 76ers.
