Through the first six minutes, it couldn’t have gone much better for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant hit three straight jumpers to pilot a 19-9 lead.
But L.A.’s steaming offense quickly cooled down, as Dallas answered with a 20-5 run to erase the visitors’ only lead of the night. The Lakers shot just 33.0 percent (29-of-88), losing to the Mavericks for the ninth straight time, 90-82.
Like on so many nights in his 20-year career, Bryant’s performance encapsulated his team’s. The five-time champion started hot from all around the floor, scoring 14 of his 19 points on a 6-of-8 clip by the middle of the second quarter.
However, Bryant — who was questionable to even play due to back soreness — shot just 1-of-7 the rest of the game.
With Bryant falling out of rhythm, Jordan Clarkson was burdened with carrying the Lakers’ offense. The sophomore finished with a game-high 21 points (9-of-18), but received little help.
L.A.’s other three starters shot just 6-of-21, while the bench fared even worse (7-of-34).
Metta World Peace, who had a rough 36th birthday by missing all nine of his shots, had an interesting evaluation of the relationship between ball and hoop.
“Sometimes in basketball the round thing doesn’t go into the round thing,” he said.
Unfortunately for the Lakers (1-8), they squandered an opportunity to take advantage of a nearly equally as inefficient Dallas offense, which hit just 36.6 percent (30-of-82). It was only the fifth time in the past decade that the Mavericks have shot that poorly and still won.
The Lakers made one final push to topple Dallas (5-4) at the end, closing the gap to three points with a minute left after a Clarkson put-back.
But Roy Hibbert (eight points, nine rebounds) fouled out on the next possession, sending Zaza Pachulia to the free throw line, where he went 8-of-11 on the night to package an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double.
Pachulia and the Mavs hit five foul shots in the final minute, while L.A. missed all five of its attempts from the field.
Check out highlights from a close game against the Mavs. #GoLakers https://t.co/1H32m0AnGz
Rough Road The Lakers committed a season-high 22 turnovers in the finale of their five-game road trip — a fitting way to end their 1-4 time away from Los Angeles.
“(The players) aren’t happy, which is good,” head coach Byron Scott said. “I think they knew that we could have won a couple more games on this trip.”
Indeed, the Lakers were within three points of both Dallas and New York (Nov. 8) in the final two minutes. Even more bitter, they lost to Orlando on a buzzer-beater on Nov. 11.
But after falling to the Mavericks, World Peace said, “We played and we grew up today,” and Bryant agrees.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s a learning process,” Bryant said. “I was very pleased with the way the guys played. I felt like we made a step in the right direction in terms of figuring some things out tactically. … The only way to really grow is go through it, and you’ve got to go through those growing pains.”
Notes World Peace entered the game as the NBA’s leader in 3-point percentage (66.7), but went 0-of-4 from deep. … The Lakers had a 15-7 advantage in offensive rebounds, thanks mainly to Brandon Bass, who had seven. … Dwight Powell had 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for Dallas. … A 20,260-person sellout attended at American Airlines Center.
A photo posted by Lakers Scene (@lakersscene) on Nov 13, 2015 at 7:23pm PST
