Game 46: Dallas Mavericks (19-26) vs Los Angeles Lakers (26-17) | 7:30pm

[cow]

Luka FTW.

Wish we would have ridden BWill's hot hand longer, team never got their rhythm back after he sat.

[GATA]

Coaching malpractice tonight

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

PJ Washington

Is he gonna be the next guy with a bad contract stuck on the Mavs roster?

[windjc]

Watched 4th quarter. Not sure I’ve seen a player throw away a game as efficiently as BWill. God he was awful. Why is Flagg camped out in the corner while BWill goes 0-756 with multiple turnovers?

[cow]

Watched 4th quarter. Not sure I’ve seen a player throw away a game as efficiently as BWill. God he was awful. Why is Flagg camped out in the corner while BWill goes 0-756 with multiple turnovers?

He was on a heater, Kidd put him in the cooler and he couldn't find his rhythm again.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Good L.

Fakers heavy sucks,.i don't see Luka stays there many years... If that Pelinka clown will not build a contender next year he is gone. Sweet.

Pelinka & Harrison have to be forget. They are the shame of NBA.

[Chicagojk]

Well Lakers team did what good teams do to bad teams. I thought they were going to give that game away in the third. In the fourth their defense was better. Dallas offense really struggled. It looks like they targeted one on one against Luka in the fourth and had no success. They probably should just have run offense, but not having a true #1 makes it tough.

Tough to really rate the Lakers without their injured guard. I don't think they look very good. Although when you have one of the best players in the league who can control a game so well on offense, you always have a chance.

Really good seeing Max being aggressive. Cooper too. He didn't really play great though. I do like him taking 20 shots. Williams was awesome in the third...but really bad in the fourth. I remain confused why Nembhard minutes are decreasing. Only 4 last night. Williams hot run in the third had something to do with it, but his organization would have helped at the beginning of the fourth.

Mavs really need to get PJ and Gafford playing better. PJ looks much more comfortable guarding in the paint (blocking shots) than defending on the perimeter. He may be going thru something off the court though. Gafford has also been hurt, but it is safe to say him and Powell level of play are not much different. Maybe Powell has been better. That should not be the case.

Martin with a real solid game. Even taking some threes. It is a drain when a pass goes to the corner (Martin and Marshall & Cooper too) and they hesitate and don't take an open three.

All in all, a fun third quarter after a messy first half and an ugly 4th. Ayton has had good moments, but it appears he is wearing thin in LAL. Just showed no passion in the game. Watching him the playoffs will be fascinating. I will say even when he scores 18 and 10, sometimes you don't feel that impact. This playoff run will be important to him. I have no idea what his salary range is for next year.

[omahen]

Well Lakers team did what good teams do to bad teams.  I thought they were going to give that game away in the third.  In the fourth their defense was better.  Dallas offense really struggled.  It looks like they targeted one on one against Luka in the fourth and had no success.  They probably should just have run offense, but not having a true #1 makes it tough. 

Tough to really rate the Lakers without their injured guard.  I don't think they look very good.  Although when you have one of the best players in the league who can control a game so well on offense, you always have a chance.

Really good seeing Max being aggressive.  Cooper too.  He didn't really play great though.  I do like him taking 20 shots.  Williams was awesome in the third...but really bad in the fourth.  I remain confused why Nembhard minutes are decreasing.  Only 4 last night.  Williams hot run in the third had something to do with it, but his organization would have helped at the beginning of the fourth.

Mavs really need to get PJ and Gafford playing better.  PJ looks much more comfortable guarding in the paint (blocking shots) than defending on the perimeter.  He may be going thru something off the court though.    Gafford has also been hurt, but it is safe to say him and Powell level of play are not much different.  Maybe Powell has been better.  That should not be the case.

Martin with a real solid game.  Even taking some threes.  It is a drain when a pass goes to the corner (Martin and Marshall & Cooper too) and they hesitate and don't take an open three.   

All in all, a fun third quarter after a messy first half and an ugly 4th.  Ayton has had good moments, but it appears he is wearing thin in LAL.  Just showed no passion in the game.  Watching him the playoffs will be fascinating.  I will say even when he scores 18 and 10, sometimes you don't feel that impact.  This playoff run will be important to him.  I have no idea what his salary range is for next year.

I thought Lakers were very good for approximately three quarters and beyond bad in the third and start of fourth. Or was it that Mavs were really bad for three quarters and very good in the fourth?  After the first half I was asking myself how could Mavs win four in a row with such a play. That quickly turned against me  

Reddick emphasised after the Clippers game that Lakers should play the right way more - sharing the ball. This was also first thing he said in the presser after Mavs game. I think that is why Luka looked somewhat passive in this one, only taking 15 shots, compared to his average 22. The results were mixed. Ok for most of the game, a disaster in the third, where role players were giving up ball one after another and one would really wish for more Luka ball in that time. Centers were extremely bad whole game and especially Ayton couldn't buy a bucket in this one, even from easiest positions. 

I thought Lakers played very good defense, especially with the center-less line-up. Perhaps Kidd made a mistake going towards centerless line-up for the Mavs. 

Lakers were attacking small Mavs guards whole game, posting them up with Luka, LeBron and even Smart and Timme. Lakers are posting up LeBron a lot lately and it ends with either someone cutting to the paint or LeBron taking a fadeaway shot that he converts decently. I think that is why Nembhard didn't get more burn. He has zero chance against those guys. Also a good showing of what to expect for the Mavs going forward and food for thought on how to hide him on defense. Williams was able to compensate that as he absolutely killed Lakers on offense in the third. But that stopped once Lakers went small(er) in the fourth. 

Ayton is ok for 8 mil, but he is not a long term solution. He has some good games and some games where he just completely dissapears. Lakers need a far more athletic rim protector with much bigger motor.

[Chicagojk]

Also I forgot to add, masterclass by Luka how to interact with fans. I think Nico lost the fanbase after the trade, but his actions after the trade may have been almost as bad. That is when I knew it was just a matter of time. Had Nico ever addressed the fans and showed any empathy? I don't think so. It was hiding, arrogance, weird statements, no explanation, etc. It is amazing a guy from such a big company as a people person came off so bad when talking in public.

[meistermatze]

Great to see Luka still loving Dallas and the fans – and vice versa. At least Nico couldn’t ruin that relationship.

If we were actually trying to win, I would have gone crazy over how we completely pissed away the lead in the fourth. It was awful. When your only offense is Williams, Naji, and PJ hoisting threes, you know you’re doomed. The Lakers packed the paint and completely took away Cooper’s driving lanes. Without reliable outside shooting, this is going to be a winning strategy against us every single time. Just imagine how bad things would look if Christie wasn’t that good (and Klay, to a lesser extent).

Of course, it’s ridiculous that Rui – of all people – ended up sinking us in the end, but yeah, it’s a good L for the standings.

But man, the Lakers suck. Ayton is just horrible. LeBron looked old AF (even though he had some nice defensive moments down the stretch). Even Luka looked rather pedestrian, gassed and bloated for most of the game. I am seriously doubting his longevity going forward.

Even with AR, this team is going nowhere in the postseason. Too little shooting, too little D, too much overlap in the things they do well.

[RGP1981]

Good L.

Fakers heavy sucks,.i don't see Luka stays there many years... If that Pelinka clown will not build a contender next year he is gone. Sweet.

Pelinka & Harrison have to be forget. They are the shame of NBA.

Agreed, this Lakers team has a minuscule chance of winning the title. Yet I think Pelinka is a very good GM, and will continue to show it when he isn't hamstrung by LeKlutch. He should be able to put a better contender around Luka once Lebron is retired. Then it'll be up to Luka to show how badly he wants to lead 'his' team to an NBA title... i.e., if he wants it more than he wants his chicken & rice + beer, hehe.

It's too bad they agreed to the NTC in Lebron's contract. A trade I was thinking of if Lebron didn't have that NTC (although I'm not sure of the Nets willingness):

• Raptors get: Lebron, Bronny, Ayton (get off Quickley and Poeltl long-term contracts, benefit from the $$ and global relevance of Lebron's farewell tour)
  
• Nets get: Poeltl, Quickley, 2x Lakers future 1sts of choice.
  
• Lakers get: CMB, Claxton, Mann, Agbaji.
  

This may not be able to beat OKC/Denver, but it would give the Lakers a really good place to start from.

G: Reaves, Gabe
G: Smart, Mann, Agbaji
F: Luka, Laravia
F: CMB, Hachimura
C: Claxton, Hayes

If the Nets don't want Quickley, the Lakers could take him and re-work who goes where, and probably only need to send 1 pick instead of 2 to the Nets.

- Quickley/Smart, Reaves/Agbaji, Luka/Laravia, CMB/Hachimura, Claxton/Hayes

Another player I would like to see the Lakers try to get and pair with Luka is Jabari Smith Jr. (instead of CMB).

[FireNicoHarrison]

I hope LeBron will play 10 more seasons and ruins Fakers forever.

[RGP1981]

I hope LeBron will play 10 more seasons and ruins Fakers forever.

Haha! I do too, but I thought up this hypothetical trade for poor Luka's sake.