the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers at home on Christmas Day, winning 124-115. The superstar game between Luka Doncic and LeBron James lived up to the bill, with Doncic scoring 32 points, grabbing nine rebounds and providing nine assists. James poured in 38 to go along with six rebounds and five assists in the loss. Christian Wood also played a huge role for Dallas, scoring 30 goals while picking up eight rebounds and seven assists.
Things unfolded early in Los Angeles, with LeBron James pushing after Dallas misfires and the Mavericks unable to connect on wide-open looks. The Lakers sent variant double teams to Luka Doncic and he couldn’t get his first shot until about four minutes into the quarter. Although they were down by as much as 14 points in the first frame, the Mavericks wanted to get back into the game, cutting the lead to four. But a late stall in the Dallas offense coupled with free throws from Laker put Los Angeles up 28-21 after 12 minutes of action.
With Luka Doncic on the bench, Dallas’ bench unit struggled to defend and the Lakers once again took a double-digit lead. Offensively, Dallas kept hitting from three but couldn’t hit the wide side of a barn. LeBron James continually punished any Dallas defender they put in front of him throughout the quarter and it gave the Lakers a 54-43 halftime lead.
A three-game barrage from Dallas to open the third quarter quickly closed the gap for the Mavericks and forced a timeout in Los Angeles. The Maverick offense kept coming and Dallas took the lead midway through the quarter thanks to a Hardaway three on a drive and a flat. The three-man reign continued throughout the frame, with Dallas hitting 9 of 12. That deluge broke damnation elsewhere as the Mavericks also began scoring inside the key, leading them to score 51 points in the third quarter. Dallas led 94-75 after three periods.
After Dallas’ historic third quarter, the Lakers responded by cutting Maverick’s lead to 10 in just 88 seconds. The Mavericks responded repeatedly throughout the quarter, but James and the Lakers kept coming. Foul issues also crept up on Dallas with Luka Doncic getting five and Dwight Powell fouling with just over five minutes left. But Los Angeles simply didn’t have enough juice to contain a Dallas offense that, once burst, was impossible to contain with their limited defensive options. The Mavericks won on Christmas Day 124-115 and improved to 18-16 on the season.
When the Mavericks hit open shots, Dallas has a good chance of winning
Last year, just before the playoffs started, Josh Bowe tweeted something that had been true for a while, but had never been so succinctly stated before:
That’s always true and maybe true all the time Luka Doncic is with the Mavericks. In the first half, the Dallas players were spoon-fed a variety of open looks and they couldn’t connect. In the third quarter, as we all saw, the ball moved with precision and Spencer Dinwiddie, Tim Hardaway Jr., Reggie Bullock and Christian Wood made the defense pay for leaving them open.
Doubling Luka Doncic should have diminishing returns
At halftime, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon noted that Luka Doncic saw double teams on 18 possessions in that first half. The Mavericks were unable to make the Lakers pay and called as a direct result. The aforementioned point discussed non-Luka players connecting on open shots and those shots are a direct result of Doncic’s brace.
Doncic is going to play the right basketball in almost any situation while locked down. And when teams choose to overtake Doncic early, I feel good that Luka finally figured out how to exploit the cracks in defensive coverage. He sees a higher percentage of team doubles per game than any other player (he may see the most, actually, but I don’t have access to the data right now). It’s the only defensive scheme teams have seen work simply because of the offensive limitations of other Dallas players. But look enough at Luka, he’ll find a way to get past it.
Christian Wood meets America
As an undrafted journeyman, Christian Wood was probably only familiar to the most regular basketball fans. After all, he played on seven teams during his NBA career. However, everyone who had watched his various highlight videos on YouTube saw a player with quite mouth-watering highlights. With what he’s capable of on offense, he’s a lot like an All-Star, he’s so talented.
But he was unable to put it together on a decent team. So far.
That performance of 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks in a nationally televised game on Christmas Day was quite the introduction for many casual NBA fans. His inclusion in the starting lineup provided the boost that many of us have been asking for since the early days of training camp. Now, it’s important to note that his solid play has accompanied the Mavericks through a low point in the schedule. But with Dallas struggling to keep their heads above water during a streak with plenty of injury concerns, their solid game is needed. Hopefully the connection between him and Doncic can be developed further as the Mavericks work through the season.
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