On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers collected their 59th loss of the season, as the Dallas Mavericks put together a balanced team effort that featured seven different players scoring in double figures.
In the first quarter, the Mavericks set a blistering pace by scoring 33 points. Rajon Rondo looked especially active early and tabbed 11 points, three assists and two rebounds by halftime. While the Lakers managed to keep pace early with 27 points in the first quarter and 29 points in the second period, the pace suited the Mavericks far more than the Lakers. It was only a matter of time before the Mavericks pulled away.
Still, Wesley Johnson, who had 16 points in the half, led the Lakers in their pursuit of the visitors. At the break, the Lakers only trailed by five points. However, Johnson would roll his ankle late in that second quarter and hobble off the court into the locker room. X-rays came back negative, but Johnson would not return to the contest in the second half.
With Jeremy Lin ruled out for the remainder of the season prior to the game with a sore left knee, the Lakers could ill afford yet another injury setback. Already, eight of the 15 players on the Lakers’ roster at the start the season had been ruled out for the remainder of the season: Steve Nash, Julius Randle, Xavier Henry, Kobe Bryant, Wayne Ellington, Nick Young, Ronnie Price and Lin. With the exception of Nash and Henry, who had since been waived, all the other injured Lakers sat in suits on the sidelines.
With Johnson out for the second half, Ryan Kelly had to play out of position and move to small forward. Recently, Kelly had been playing better since moving to his natural power forward positions. Notably, he had 21 points, seven assists and four rebounds in LA's recent victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
On Sunday, Kelly struggled to find his shot and only made two of his first 10 shots. The Mavericks would take advantage of the short-handed Lakers and open up a 14-point lead in the third quarter. Thanks largely to rookies Jabari Brown, who scored nine points in the third quarter, the Lakers rallied to cut the deficit to only seven points entering the final quarter. Still, the pace of the game suited the Mavericks, and the Lakers struggled to keep up.
In the final period, the Lakers fell apart. The Mavericks led by as many as 18 points, and the final score would only prove to be a formality. Sure, the Lakers would rally, but the home team never truly threatened to come back and claim a victory over the playoff bound Mavericks.
The Mavericks would eventually win 120-106.
With regards to the rookie watch, Tarik Black had a monster game on the boards and pulled down 19 rebounds to go along with his 10 points. Rookie Jordan Clarkson finished with 26 points and six assists. Brown finished with 18 points.
Next, the Lakers play at Sacramento on Monday night.
