The Dallas Mavericks held on for a 104-101 win after the Los Angeles Lakers 20-point comeback was ruined.
The Dallas Mavericks are leaving the Crypto.com Arena by the skin of their teeth, barely holding on to beat the Lakers 104-101 after blowing a 20-point lead and scoring just 13 points in the fourth quarter. Fans around the world were stunned at how the game played out.
Fans were lamenting another fake Lakers comeback ending with a loss.
This was the worst fake comeback ever 😭😭😭
— Pepé Silvia ⚜️ (@SlayYoung23) November 23, 2023
The Mavericks fell down by two points until Luka Doncic found Kyrie Irving for the perfect game-winning three with 20 seconds left, which left non-Laker fans around the world jumping for joy.
Luka dime to Kyrie for the game winning bucket is so poetic. Happy thanksgiving y’all
— Jo (@MavsStan41) November 23, 2023
Mavs ice-cold fourth quarter received a lot of criticism, though Tim Cato had a funny Chet Holmgren quote to describe Dallas’ struggles.
mavs must be shooting zero percent on hang pull treballs this half which is odee
— tim cato (@tim_cato) November 23, 2023
Fans were furious when LeBron passed out of a mismatch with Kyrie to pass the ball to Anthony Davis when he was being doubled.
Bron… kyrie was on you man bully him
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) November 23, 2023
Fans were shocked LeBron made that bad a read, especially with Taurean Prince also being wide open in the corner.
Lakers fans got upset at the cavalier shot selection towards the end of the game.
Fans are already joking about how LeBron will defend his pass to AD as the right play after the game.
Lebron explaining why throwing a lob pass to a double teamed Anthony Davis was the right play pic.twitter.com/nM0S8JEAg7
— JP – The Wholesome Truth Teller (@jay_pea619) November 23, 2023
The Mavericks were dominating through the first three quarters, led by Luka Doncic, who ended the night with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. Kyrie Irving struggled in the fourth, like every Maverick did, but hit the game-winning three to end the night with 28 points. Josh Green had a season-high 15 points off the bench.
KYRIE CALLS GAME 🔥
Mavs-Lakers ending was WILD. pic.twitter.com/CLNkF4TFei
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 23, 2023
The Lakers were led by LeBron James, who ended the night with 26 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, with 16 points coming in the fourth quarter. Austin Reaves joined LeBron in the fourth-quarter comeback, scoring nine of his 17 points late in the game. Anthony Davis disappeared, scoring just 10 points while D’Angelo Russell had 15 and Taurean Prince had a solid outing with 14 points.
The Lakers Should’ve Clinched This One
This will be a loss that’ll hurt the Lakers, as the Mavericks were completely out of rhythm by the end of the game. Rookie center Dereck Lively II was one of their most impactful players all game, but his injury in the third quarter began a cycle of downfall for the Mavs, something we’ve seen earlier this season as well.
Anthony Davis not taking the time to exploit the Mavs’ weakness on the inside was shocking, as they’re one of the worst paint-protecting teams in the league. LeBron and Reaves found great success in driving to the rim after Lively was off the court, but AD simply couldn’t figure his way out of clever defensive schemes that saw Grant Williams and Richaun Holmes restrict his movement.
LeBron was one of the only reasons the Lakers made a comeback in this game, so criticizing him seems unfair. However, he could’ve iced the game when the Lakers were up two and he had Kyrie Irving on him for an easy rim finish. Passing is the right decision for most players, but LeBron made the wrong decision that time. He wasn’t under threat of being stripped or fouled, and his pass went to the player fending a double-team.
The Lakers drop to 9-7 and the Mavericks stop their bad run of games after their 8-2 start to improve to 10-5 on the season.
