Mavs deal Lakers worst loss in franchise history
DALLAS – Nobody would have blamed the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday if they walked off the American Airlines Center court at halftime, made a bee line for the team bus and bolted to the airport for a flight home.
An eventual 122-73 loss to the lowly Dallas Mavericks was clearly over after two quarters, and the Lakers were playing some of their ugliest basketball of an unsightly season, with most of their shots clanging off the rim, several missing the rim entirely and too many passes missing the mark.
Was there really any need to subject themselves and the fans to another 24 minutes of this?
NBA rules stipulate that four quarters be played, so the Lakers had no choice but to suffer through another half of dreariness, as the Mavericks extended their regular-season winning streak over the Lakers to 13 games dating to November 2013, their longest-active winning streak against any team.
The Mavericks handed the Lakers their biggest loss in franchise history, surpassing a pair of 48-point losses: a 123-75 defeat to the Utah Jazz last season and a 142-94 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014.
It marked the fifth time in less than three years that the Lakers have lost by 40 points; the franchise had suffered only four such losses before 2013-14.
The Lakers went six minutes without a field goal, from Jordan Clarkson’s runner in the lane with two minutes left in the first quarter to Luol Deng’s cutting layup with 7:32 left in the second.
The Mavericks pushed their lead from 23-22 to 40-23 during the drought, in which the Lakers missed eight straight shots, and by halftime, the Dallas lead swelled to 34 points, 67-33.
The Lakers scored only 11 points in the second quarter, their lowest-scoring period of the season, making only four of 17 shots and missing all six of their three-point attempts. They turned the ball over five times in the period.
Dirk Nowitzki scored nine points in the second quarter, and Wesley Matthews scored eight. The Mavericks made six of 11 three-point shots in the quarter. Dallas surpassed the 100-point mark with 8: 45 left in the contest. (Los Angeles Times/TNS)
Warriors 118, Magic 98
Stephen Curry scored 27 points and Golden State won its seventh consecutive game by overcoming Orlando.
The Warriors (38-6) remain on pace to become the first NBA team in history to win at least 65 games for three consecutive seasons.
Curry hit 7-of-13 three-pointers to score at least 20 points for his 10th consecutive game. He had 16 points in the third quarter when the Warriors sealed the victory. Klay Thompson was also hot from long-range, going 7-for-9 on threes to account for all of his 21 points.
Suns 115, Raptors 103
Eric Bledsoe scored 40 points and added 13 assists and Phoenix overwhelmed Toronto in the fourth quarter for an impressive road win.
The Raptors have lost three straight games for the first time this season.
DeMar DeRozan led the way for Toronto with 22 points, but was forced to leave the game with 1:30 to play after rolling his ankle landing on a teammate’s foot.
Kyle Lowry, who had 15 points, but shot just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc, capped his night by getting ejected for a flagrant-two foul following contact with the head of Brandon Knight with 1:30 to go.
Timberwolves 111, Nuggets 108
Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks, and hit a go-ahead jump shot with 42.5 seconds left as Minnesota came from behind to beat Denver.
Andrew Wiggins had 24 points for the Timberwolves, who rallied from nine points down midway through the fourth quarter and have now won five of their past seven games and four in a row at home.
Gary Harris scored 22 points and Nikola Jokic had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who played without Emmanuel Mudiay due to a sore back. (Reuters)