Three Thoughts on Mavericks 127, Lakers 125
The shorthanded Mavericks get their 2nd win in two nights against Los Angeles
For particularly big games, and when the schedule allows, the Mavericks will get the Three Thoughts treatment here at #Sturmstack. Tonight felt like one of those nights.
The Dallas Mavericks won their 15th game of the season and tied their season-high win streak with their 4th in a row with a 127-125 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. This is their 2nd win in as many tries against the Lakers and it was done with a short bench and short rest. They are now 15-8 on the year.
These are my Three Thoughts:
– This was a wildly entertaining example of what this sport can offer with four different scorers over 30 points each and fantastic shooting all night. The Mavericks saving grace was a fantastic night from behind the 3-point line.
What is most interesting about this performance was the rate of shooting from behind the stripe by both teams. Dallas hit 21 3’s on 43 attempts for 49% and the Lakers were 15-29 themselves, for 52%. The NBA as a whole is at about 36% this season from deep, so this is certainly an uncommon occurrence. The Mavs had four different players hit at least three of them and three hit at least five. That is crazy.
We have come to expect this sort of shooting from Grant Williams when he is in form and we have also come to expect those nights from time to time for Tim Hardaway. Hardaway was so good this evening and at some point, his appreciation levels need to start going in his direction. He scored 32 and many were big buckets when Luka was resting. He also took a number of charges and competed hard. Now, that the Mavericks have added talent, hopefully people will cut him some slack. It isn’t his fault that the roster has been so poor in the last few years. Now, he is playing a role, and playing it very well. Tonight, he was a sight for sore eyes. They needed him badly.
Those two were expected, but Dante Exum? Given that Exum had only hit eight 3’s all season long heading into the evening, we had no plans to expect 7-9 from deep for him in this game. But, they needed them all. He has a very convincing shooting form and ball rotation for a guy who has never shot well from deep. For his career he is at about 30% and has never had a season at 35%, so you must understand the cynicism from folks when it came to his ability to make people pay for leaving him. But, boy, that job tonight from Exum, which also included many other contributions on both ends of the court will surely fill him with confidence.