The two previous match-ups were one-sided affairs, but the last time these two squared off in Dallas, a classic game ensued. Are we on for another cardiac finish tomorrow?
HOME TEAM: Dallas Mavericks (23-14, 11-9 at home)
The Dallas Mavericks are back to inconsistency. They are again taking turns in grabbing wins and losses in their last five games. Coming off a decent victory this past Thursday, they lost a 107-106 heartbreaker to the Denver Nuggets by throwing a bad pass as time expired.
The Mavs are down in the season series with the Los Angeles Lakers, 1-2. They were defeated in an overtime classic in the first, won via blowout in the second, and then got dominated in the third thanks to shooting their second-lowest field goal percentage of the season (36%).
We should see a Luka Doncic that’s focused on helping his team tie the season series. He’s averaging 25.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game on 41.7%-shooting in the three meetings.
Tim Hardaway Jr., Seth Curry, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell, and Maxi Kleber remain as main players in Luka’s supporting cast. The smooth-shooting Hardaway paces everyone in that list in scoring at 16 PPG.
The Mavericks will be missing Kristaps Porzingis, who is ruled out for at least a couple more games due to a knee injury.
ROAD TEAM: Los Angeles Lakers (30-7, 17-3 on the road)
The Lakers have now won six-straight games after that tough Christmas day loss. Wednesday’s cruising 117-87 win over the lowly New York Knicks, however, didn’t end well as their superstar big man, Anthony Davis, fell on his back and didn’t return. He’s questionable for tomorrow’s contest.
With that, LeBron James will have his work cut out for him. The future Hall-of-Famer is somewhat of a tough call heading into the game. He’s averaging 25.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 12.3 assists in the season series, which includes a monster 39-12-16 triple-double, but has only shot 43.4% in his last nine games.
Kyle Kuzma will assume the secondary position in the offense with Davis unlikely to play and may even be inserted into the starting lineup. He started back on November 13th in a game against the Golden State Warriors while AD was rested and scored 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
Next in the pecking order will be Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who’s chipping in 11.8 points on an efficient 51%-shooting from three in his last 13 outings.
PREDICTION:
LeBron James puts on a good performance but the Lakers ultimately struggle without Anthony Davis’s presence down low. Luka Doncic will lead the Mavs to a 113-108 win to even the season series.
