Looking to end their west coast road trip on a high note, the Mavericks duo of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson rallied late, as Dallas held off a feisty Lakers squad to secure their 37th win of the season.
After building a 21-point lead in the first half, Coach Jason Kidd watched his Mavs let their advantage vanish in the second half as the Lakers made a run. However, Dallas stayed composed and responded by locking down defensively, allowing them to outscore Los Angeles 24-17 in the fourth quarter, leaving Cyprto.com Arena with a 109-104 victory.
After celebrating his 23rd birthday the night before, Doncic had another solid performance with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Brunson made plays on both ends of the court and finished the night with 22 points, four steals and four assists. Afterward, Coach Kidd discussed the growth he has seen from his team to finish the fourth quarter strong.
“We didn’t lose our composure and I think that’s one of the things that we’ve gotten better at,” Coach Kidd said. “We didn’t melt or go away, we kept playing and then in the fourth quarter, we got back to what we did at Golden State… so [in] the fourth quarter again, defensively, we held them to 17 points, that’s pretty good, especially when the momentum was on their side.”
Neither team managed to pull ahead by much in the first quarter. With under four minutes to play and still a one-possession game, Doncic provided a huge spark for the Mavs by capitalizing off Spencer Dinwiddie’s missed three-pointer. Luka recognized Dinwiddie’s shot was off and flew in, elevated above the rim, and posterized Dwight Howard. Dallas closed out the quarter with an 8-0 run and during the run Luka scored four of his 12 points of the quarter, giving Dallas a 30-25 lead after one.
Dinwiddie continued to build momentum for Dallas in the second quarter by creating opportunities for his teammates. He started it off by hitting an off balance jump shot while getting fouled, then the next possession he found Brunson cutting to the rim where he finished the layup, which the Dallas lead to 10, 35-25.
Dallas kept the pedal to the metal, and after Luka backed down Austin Reeves to hit a jump shot in the paint the Mavs lead grew to 21, 59-38. The Lakers tried to trim their deficit during the final minutes of the half, but Dorian Finney-Smith caught fire and hit a trio of three-pointers, scoring 11 of his 12 points and giving the Mavs a comfortable 71-56 lead heading into halftime.
Despite having a strong first half the Mavs started the third quarter ice cold. The Lakers took advantage by hitting four three-pointers during a 14-1 run, putting them within one possession. Halfway through the quarter, Dallas hit a couple of layups, but LeBron James got hot from beyond the arc. James hit a three-pointer from the Lakers logo to tie up the game at 78. Los Angeles outscored Dallas 31-14 in the third quarter and took an 87-85 lead into the fourth.
The Lakers continued to hold their lead, but things started to shift halfway through the fourth quarter. Brunson kept the Mavs within reach and knocked down a three-pointer, which sparked a 13-2 run. Doncic found his rhythm during the run, and although James tried playing tight defense on him, Luka he was able to get around him and hit a floating jump shot giving Dallas a five-point lead, 107-102.
Dallas played stingy defense and did not allow Los Angeles to get any open looks in the final seconds. The entire quarter the Mavs stepped up on defense and only allowed the Lakers to score 17 points. The Mavericks continue their impressive stretch since the start of the new year and have won eight of their last 10 games.
“I think there’s been growth throughout this season,” Coach Kidd said. “Early on, you would have saw that game kind of get away from us, giving up a 15-point lead, but we didn’t blink, we didnt take a step back. We just kept playing the game and found a way to get control of it.”