The Dallas Mavericks lost an early 19-point lead at the Los Angeles Lakers and still won in the end. After two extra hours, the guests ended up with a hard-earned 119:115.
Los Angeles Lakers (19-23) – Dallas Mavericks (24-19) 115:119 OT (BOXSCORE)
Luka Doncic shone again with a triple-double (35 points, 14/28 FG, 14 rebounds, 13 assists) and hit two saving stepback threes in the final phase. The Lakers missed fouling at +3, especially at the end of regulation time. “It surprised me a little,” said Doncic. “I don’t know why they didn’t do it. I thought they were fouling, so I tried to get rid of my throw in time.”
Nevertheless, the Slovenian had a difficult time in the second half. He received support from Christian Wood (24, 10/17, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (22), in both Spencer Dinwiddie was also on hand for extensions (17).
The Lakers had the will, but not the odds. So was LeBron James, who had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists but hit little (9/28 FG, 0/7 3FG). The Laker with the best points was Russell Westbrook (28, 10/23 FG), Dennis Schröder hit an important throw in crunch time, but otherwise struggled with his throw (7 points, 3/13, 6 assists).
The Mavericks again had a very offensive starting five (Doncic, Dinwiddie, Hardaway, Bullock, Wood) and started offensively like the fire brigade. Doncic in particular was able to switch and manage and always found the right answer against many Lakers blitzes, so that Dallas took the lead by up to 19 points in the first quarter.
However, the Lakers, where rookie Max Christie was allowed to start like against Denver (alongside James, Schröder, Toscano-Anderson and Bryant), woke up, which they owed in particular to their bank around the strong Westbrook. Russ set the tone with his energy and scored 15 points by the break. Schröder temporarily reduced the lead to 4, but then the Mavs were back on the trigger because Doncic turned up the heat again just before the break. It went into the dressing room with 59:48 Mavs.
After half-time tea, the Mavs couldn’t pull away like they did in the starting quarter. Due to a stronger LeBron and a little more offensive problems for the Mavs, the Lakers managed to close the gap in the third quarter before even taking the lead in the final quarter. Westbrook tied the game with a jumper over Frank Ntilikina (including “rock the baby”), then Nunn hit a free throw to make it 87-86 with eight minutes left – it was a 24-9 run by the Lakers at that point.
Mavericks choke to win in double overtime
In the Mavs, Wood in particular fought back. Doncic was struggling as the Lakers kept forcing the ball away from him. In the middle of the third quarter, Doncic scored last from the field, as a result others had to take over – and the Mavs made uncharacteristic ball losses, 19 in number. 1:31 before the end it was Schröder who set the drive back to +2 for the Lakers.
Wood only got one free throw at the other end, then both teams missed several chances. With 11.8 seconds left, Westbrook was fouled and hit both free throws. Interestingly, Doncic was not doubled this time, did not take long to ask, went into a one-on-one against Schröder and pocketed a stepback three to equalize. With 6 seconds remaining, James sought out Brown Jr., whose throw was blocked by Hardaway (probably with some contact). It went into overtime.
It was an up and down here. Westbrook conceded a flagrant foul after a push against Doncic, but he missed both free throws. Dinwiddie stuffed spectacularly, but Wenyen Gabriel put the Lakers ahead with an And-1. James made it +3, then it was Doncic again who equalized with a stepback three. The Lakers had the last possession – but James was cleared by Wood on the drive. Double OT!
Dallas got the upper hand here. Dinwiddie alone scored 6 points in the second overtime, Wood fought tirelessly and recorded 2 blocks and a tip-in, among other things. With 11.7 seconds left, Hardaway hit at least one free throw for the +4 lead. LeBron missed one more opportunity and then the game was finally decided.
NBA: The Stats Leaders in Lakers vs. Mavs
| category | lakers | Mavs |
| Points | Russell Westbrook (28) | Luka Doncic (35) |
| rebounds | LeBron James (16) | Doncic, Wood (14 each) |
| assists | LeBron James (9) | Luka Doncic (13) |
| steals | James, Westbrook, Gabriel (2 each) | Reggie Bullock (2) |
| block | Jenny Gabriel (2) | Chris Wood (5) |