The Dallas Mavericks cruised past the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night in a 128-110 rout in front of a national TV audience at the American Airlines Center.
The Lakers entered the game having won only three games in March, and their two All-Stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were out due to injuries.
“I thought the guys were focused, understanding who was playing and who wasn’t,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of his team. “I thought the guys took care of business.”
The entire team was hot right out of the gate. Luka Doncic scored 15 of the team’s first 23 points, and the Mavericks closed the first quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 43-25 lead into the second quarter. Dallas made 64% of their shot attempts in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Mavericks extended their lead to 30 points, 63-33, after a Spencer Dinwiddie three-pointer with 6:58 remaining in the quarter.
Doncic had 25 points at halftime as the Mavericks held a commanding 82-56 lead at the break — a season-high scoring mark in one half for the Mavericks and third-most in Dallas’ history (behind the record of 85). The 82 points also marked the most allowed by the Lakers in any half throughout the history of their franchise.
Doncic secured a triple-double with an offensive rebound and layup that gave him 32 points and the Mavericks a 101-65 lead with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Because Dallas finished the third quarter with a comfortable 113-84 lead, Kidd rested the team’s starters for the entire fourth quarter. With the reserves in, Dallas was outscored 26-15 in the final quarter, but it did not matter as their lead was too large to overcome.
Dallas made 11 of 19 three-point attempts to finish the game with a season-high 20 three-pointers from 46 attempts.
Doncic scored 34 points and added 12 rebounds and 12 assists in just three quarters for his tenth triple-double of the season. It was also his 21st 30-point triple-double of his career, tying NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain for fifth-most in NBA history.
According to The Dallas Morning News, the 23-year-old Doncic spoke postgame about what it meant to have his name mentioned among NBA greats.
“I just hope many more,” he said with a smile. “No, I don’t know what to say. I’m just grateful to be here. I remember on draft night. I just wanted to be picked in the NBA. I never knew I would have this impact, but I’ve just got to keep working and hopefully, one day win the championship.”
Reggie Bullock was the Maverick’s second-leading scorer, finishing with 17 points and making 5-of-8 three-pointers. Dinwiddie finished with 13 points and made 2-of-6 from the three-point range.
With the win and other results from Tuesday night, the fourth-place Mavericks (47-29) are now closer to third place in the Western Conference than fifth place. Dallas is just one game behind the third-place Golden State Warriors (48-28).
Thanks to a 3-1 season-series victory over the Warriors, Dallas owns the tiebreaker, so if the two teams finish with identical records, the Mavericks will be the third seed in the playoffs. Both teams have six games remaining.
Also, on Tuesday, the fifth-place team in the West, the Utah Jazz (45-31), lost 121-115 to the Los Angeles Clippers, falling two games behind the Mavericks for the four-seed, the final spot with home-court advantage in the first round.
Home-court will be crucial to Dallas, who, with Tuesday’s win over the Lakers, improved to 27-12 at home this season. That includes 19 wins in their last 23 home games.
“The way we’ve been playing at home, we’re very comfortable,” Kidd said. “And we understand what home-court is. To be able to protect home during the playoffs, we have been in that position before and understand how that helps you achieve your goal, and that’s to win a championship.”
