Even without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks were able to beat the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
LeBron James may have had the play of the game against the Dallas Mavericks, throwing down a flashy, thunderous dunk, but the Dallas Mavericks got the last laugh, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 118-97.
Dallas was missing its two best players as both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving sat out with injuries, but it didn’t really matter as the Mavs shot a blistering 47.4% from 3-point range compared to the Lakers’ 31.4%. James and Anthony Davis combined for only 39 points in the loss.
Without Kyrie and Luka, Quentin Grimes led the way for Dallas with 23 points off the bench.
After the game, NBA and Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal didn’t hold back, offering a very candid response to the loss.
“As a player, you have to take your opponents’ will away,” said O’Neal on Inside the NBA after the game.
“Your two superstars aren’t here, I don’t know who you are, I’m killing you tonight.”
O’Neal looked to the Lakers two star players, insisting they should have proved their dominance
“I’m LeBron James, I’m AD, you ain’t gonna score, you ain’t gonna play, we’re winning by 20, you have to take that will away. They got comfortable, they hit shots…when you’re a great player, everybody’s going to play above their head when they play you.”
O’Neal admitted that James is no longer the MVP-level player he once was, but he and the rest of the Lakers should have been able to get a win against a shorthanded Mavericks team, who snapped a five-game losing streak against James and the Lakers.
Despite the embarrassing loss in Dallas, the Lakers shouldn’t hit the panic button quite yet. They are 2-3 after trading for Dorian Finney-Smith, which isn’t great, but they are currently the sixth seed but hold a tiebreaker advantage (at present) over the teams behind them, meaning if all stays the same, the Lakers will be able to avoid the dreaded Play-In Tournament.
This season, the Lakers are 2-0 against the San Antonio Spurs, who are two games behind LA. The two teams will play a double-header in Los Angeles over the weekend, so the Lakers can take an even more commanding league over their historical rivals.
Losing one game isn’t enough for the Lakers to sweat, but it’s becoming more and more clear that James is an elite player into his 40s, but he might not be able to be option 1A on a title team and the rest of the roster needs to step up.
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