Critical late mistakes cost Lakers, who lose at buzzer
LOS ANGELES >> Of all the players to make mistakes at critical moments, the Lakers’ hope would be that Anthony Davis would be the least likely candidate.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the 30-year-old Davis made two errors that set the stage for one of the team’s worst collapses of the season.
Davis fouled Dallas’ Maxi Kleber on a 3-point attempt with 7.2 seconds left, allowing the Mavericks to pull within a point. Then after being fouled, Davis missed the first of two free throws, giving the Mavericks a chance to win with 6.7 seconds remaining.
Dallas spiked that opportunity back in the Lakers’ face: A double-teamed Kyrie Irving passed to an open Kleber on the wing, and the German drilled a game-winning 3-pointer in Davis’ face as the Mavericks prevailed 111-110 on the buzzer-beater — the wrong kind of madness the Lakers hoped for this March.
Coming in with a chance to pull to an even record with the Dallas team right ahead of them in the standings, the Lakers (34-37) instead dropped to 10th place in a standings battle when every loss hurts more. They lost a tiebreaker against Dallas, which could be a headache down the road.
Davis led the Lakers with 26 points and 10 rebounds, critically part of the reason why they were up at all in the fourth quarter after a long game of chasing. Irving had a game-high 38 points in a return from foot soreness.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham leaned on his backcourt bench tandem of Dennis Schröder (15 points) and Austin Reaves (16 points), who weren’t deadeye shots, but came through at critical moments, especially in the fourth quarter. Schröder had back-toback buckets to open the final frame, helping cut into an 8-0 Mavericks run to end the third. Reaves dazzled with a baseline drive and a floater finish through a foul from Justin Holiday midway through the fourth.
But his biggest bet was an unconventional lineup with Davis, Wenyen Gabriel and three guards. According to stat site Cleaning the Glass, Davis and Gabriel had only played 122 possessions together entering the game. But with both their centers playing side by side, the Lakers were able to play off the mobility and length and hold the Mavericks to just 22 fourth-quarter points.
The Lakers of Wednesday’s loss to the Rockets looked listless and clueless in the game’s start. But on Friday, it was clear they at least had a plan: Moving the ball methodically around the court and into the post, the Lakers were more deliberate in getting the ball early to Davis and Rui Hachimura for looks against a questionable Dallas defense.
But it didn’t matter all that much as the Mavericks attacked the Lakers’ own weakness: an inability to track shooters. Early bursts from Reggie Bullock and Davis Bertans paced an effort that saw the secondbest 3-point shooting team since the All-star break (40.5%) rack up a 9-for-15 mark from beyond the arc.
The Mavericks also broke down the Lakers’ defense with the zig-zagging dribble drives of Irving and Christian Wood, who defied any one-on-one defender no matter the effort.
The Lakers’ own shooting was anemic by comparison: They started out 4 for 16 from deep, and Russell and Malik Beasley — the heroes of a Tuesday win over New Orleans — were a combined 0 for 9 on threes. When the Mavericks took a nine-point lead toward the end of the first half, Ham called a frustrated timeout.
Things weren’t much better in the third, when Dallas led by as much as 14 points. But the bench-led lineup pushed back, closing it to a point twice.