Part 3 of the Luka Doncic-LeBron James showdown never materialized as Mavs fall to Lakers - The Dallas Morning News

LOS ANGELES – On the eve of his 35th birthday, LeBron James wasn’t exactly Kingly, but good enough, to help the Lakers show the Mavericks, at least on this Sunday night, that they are the best in the West.

The Lakers’ 108-95 victory at Staples Center avenged a 14-point home defeat that Los Angeles suffered on Dec. 1 to Dallas (21-11), which entered Sunday night with an 8-0 road record against Western Conference opponents.

And in this, Luka Doncic’s 100th NBA game, the James-Doncic showdown that highlighted this season’s previous two meetings never materialized.

James finished with 13 points, 13 assists and six rebounds. Doncic, coming off a dazzling triple-double performance Saturday at Golden State, managed 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds against the Lakers.

The Mavericks mostly felt fortunate that on a night when they lost starting shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to a left hamstring injury, that Doncic wasn’t seriously hurt when he took a hard late-first-half fall after getting knocked off-balance by Dwight Howard.

Doncic left the game and went in concussion protocol at halftime, but he started the second half. Even with a boost of off-the-bench offense from J.J. Barea the Mavericks never made a serious run at the 26-7 Lakers.

“It was scary,” Doncic said of the fall. “I was just [taking] precautions. I fell on my back, hit my head and my elbow, but I was OK.”

In the Dec. 1 game here, Doncic had 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. When the Lakers won at Dallas in overtime on Nov. 1, 119-110, Doncic had 31 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds.

On Sunday Doncic missed nine of his 14 field-goal attempts, including all six of his 3-point tries.

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“We played really bad,” Doncic said. “I think it was one of the worst games we’ve ever played. . . Bad night for us. Really bad night.”

The Mavericks played the final three quarters without Hardaway, who hobbled off the court, with the help of Dallas’ training staff, with 5:26 remaining left in the first quarter and the Mavericks trailing, 11-9.

Twenty-four seconds earlier he had stolen a pass and soared for a breakaway dunk. The Mavericks announced that Hardaway would miss the rest of the game, but did not immediately offer specifics about his injury or prognosis.

A lengthy Hardaway absence would be a significant blow for the Mavericks, who before Sunday’s result were 13-5 since Hardaway moved into the starting lineup on Nov. 20.

In those 18 games, Hardaway averaged 16.9 points on 47% shooting, including 44% from 3-point range.

One night after making a franchise-record 24 3-point shots in 51 attempts against Golden State, the Mavericks missed 11 of their first 12 3-point attempts on Sunday.

One night after scoring 41 first-quarter points, 72 in the first half and 141 overall against the Warriors, the Mavericks trailed 84-69 after three quarters against the Lakers.

Dallas’ torrid performance against the Warriors elevated it to 36.9% 3-point shooting for the season, fifth-best in the NBA. That’s a major improvement from Dallas’ 34% last season, 27th in the league.

Carlisle credited the additions of Porzingis and Seth Curry and the hard work of developing players like Dorian Finney-Smith, who has improved from a career 30% from 3-point range to 38% this season.

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“As the year has gone on we’ve certainly gotten into a better rhythm as a team, so that helps, too,” Carlisle said. “We believe in the 3. That’s pretty obvious by the number we shoot. And it’s a process thing. If you’ve got a good one, step into it.”

The Mavericks kept stepping into them Sunday night, but mostly misfired, with Doncic shooting at least two airballs.

Perhaps it was a case of weary legs from the previous night in San Francisco, though the Lakers, too, played, winning at Portland.

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Part 3 of the Luka Doncic-LeBron James showdown never materialized as Mavs fall to Lakers - The Dallas Morning News
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