After a competitive opening quarter the Lakers floundered throughout the rest of the afternoon, as Dallas bulldozed its way to a 122-73 victory.
“We didn’t show up to play, honestly, which is frustrating,” head coach Luke Walton said. “And honestly it’s embarrassing — for us as a team, for us as an organization, for our Lakers fans that are so good to us.”
The Lakers (16-32) held brief leads in the first quarter and kept it close until their hosts completely took over.
Dallas (15-29) scored 15 unanswered points from the end of the first through the beginning of the second period to seize a 38-22 lead. Los Angeles shot a frosty 4-of-17 from the field and was outscored by 27 in that period.
The Mavericks lapped the purple and gold for a 67-33 halftime lead.
“It just snowballed,” Dallas native Julius Randle said. “They kicked our butts today.”
After a closer third quarter, the Mavericks made the beatdown historic with a 32-18 fourth quarter led by a dozen points from Justin Anderson, who led all players with a career-high 19 on the night.
Dallas set a new season-high in points and led by as many as 53 points to beat the Lakers for the 13th straight time.
“They were just picking us apart,” Nick Young said, “And we didn’t fight back.”
It was the polar opposite from the Lakers’ last game, when they defeated Indiana by 12 on Friday night.
Lou Williams (15 points) and Jordan Clarkson (10) led the team in scoring despite shooting a combined 9-of-24 from the field, while L.A. shot 38.4 percent as a whole, including 3-of-21 on 3-pointers.
With D’Angelo Russell (mild MCL sprain, right knee; right calf strain) out for one-to-two weeks, rookie wing Brandon Ingram started at point guard.
Despite Ingram having previous success at that position, there wasn’t much to be found against the Mavs, as Los Angeles finished with only 11 assists to Dallas’ 27.
On the other side, Dallas’ leading scorer, Harrison Barnes, was held to single digits for the first time this season, tallying only six points on 3-of-12 shooting. But everyone else poured it on, as seven Mavericks scored in double figures.
The Mavericks shot 49.4 percent from the field, 17-of-39 on 3-pointers and 19-of-19 on free throws.
Deron Williams directed the offense with 13 poitns and eight assists, while also passing Kevin Johnson for the 20th-most in NBA history with 6,715.
Dallas — which is last in the NBA in rebounding — also owned the boards, holding a 49-32 advantage in that department.
“That’s not who we are, but it was frustrating that it happened tonight,” Walton said.
