Kyrie Irving’s 28 factors, together with a decisive 3-pointer with 22 seconds left, powered the Dallas Mavericks to a 104-101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night time, overcoming a fourth-quarter collapse after holding a 20-point lead.
LeBron James scored 16 of his 26 factors within the fourth quarter, making a tiebreaking tip-in with 1:16 to play for the Lakers. However, James additionally dedicated a vital turnover with 4 seconds left and missed a possible tying 3-point try on the buzzer.
“We gave ourselves a fighting chance, but it’s kind of tough when you go down that many points,” James stated. “I liked our defense in the last 12 minutes. We’ve just got to be better for the first 36.”
After Luka Doncic and James traded missed 3-point makes an attempt within the last minute, Irving calmly hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night time off a move from Doncic close to the Lakers’ bench. Doncic then stole James’ errant move to the basket and Irving sank two free throws earlier than James missed one other 3-point try.
“When you have quarterbacks like Luka and Ky, trust is high,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd stated. “A lot of times, they’re going to get double-teamed, but Luka makes a heck of a pass and Ky does what he does. No panic, and he makes a big shot to win.”
Doncic scored 30 factors for the Mavs, who missed 16 of their 19 photographs within the fourth quarter. Dallas led 91-71 coming into the fourth in opposition to the sluggish Lakers however promptly missed its first 11 photographs, permitting James to spark a comeback.
“Why would you be upset? You won,” Kidd stated. “The game is over, and now we move on to get ready for Thanksgiving. There’s no one upset. It’s a great game against a very talented team.”
Los Angeles outscored Dallas 30-13 within the fourth however could not flip it right into a win. Anthony Davis had simply 10 factors and 14 rebounds, going scoreless within the last quarter.
“We had a shot to win the game,” Davis stated. “We got back in it with our defense in the fourth quarter and made some big-time shots. … We don’t celebrate moral victories, but we’re a resilient team that will be fighting ’til the end.”
The Lakers missed 4 free throws down the stretch that would have made it a more in-depth contest.
Josh Green scored 15 factors for the Mavericks, who gained their fourth consecutive highway assembly with the Lakers with one other offensive barrage by one of many NBA’s highest-scoring groups.
“We’ve put an emphasis on pushing the pace, and we were able to get out to a 20-point lead,” Green stated.
“They were on a back-to-back, and we knew that.”
Austin Reaves scored 17 factors, and D’Angelo Russell had 15 for the Lakers, who had gained six of seven over the previous two weeks. Los Angeles misplaced at dwelling for less than the second time in 9 video games this season.
Dallas largely dominated the primary three quarters in opposition to the torpid Lakers, who have been taking part in their sixth recreation in 9 days with simply 9 wholesome rotation gamers.
Dereck Lively needed to be helped to Dallas’ locker room within the third quarter after happening laborious below the Mavs’ basket. The 7-foot-1 heart bruised his decrease again on his fall from contact with Davis, the Mavs stated.
Cam Reddish sat out for the Lakers with groin soreness, becoming a member of Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino on the sidelines with accidents.
Max Christie had seven factors in 23 minutes whereas making his fourth profession begin in Reddish’s place.
Dallas’ Maxi Kleber missed his seventh straight recreation with a toe harm. When the Mavs visited the Lakers final March, Kleber hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Los Angeles 111-110 with Doncic sidelined by harm.
Source: www.dailysabah.com