DALLAS — In Hollywood, they would call this flipping the script. In Texas, we call it a plain ol’ tail-whippin’.
To be sure, Mavericks 128, Lakers 110 on Tuesday in American Airlines Center wasn’t what TNT bean counters had in mind when they slated this for national viewing. Unless maybe they were hoping to lure horror-flick genre fans to basketball.
With Los Angeles stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injuries, the result itself wasn’t surprising, but the beating’s thoroughness before a meaningless garbage-time mini-rally had to be a shock to the proud Lakers’ system.
Luka Doncic piled up a 34-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in three quarters. The 82 points Dallas scored in the first half was the most allowed by a Lakers team in any half since the franchise moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.
The Mavericks (47-29) moved to within one game of third-place Golden State in the Western Conference and dropped the Lakers (31-44) to 11th place, for now one spot out of the seventh-through-10th-place play-in tournament.
The play-in is of little if any concern to Dallas. With six games left, the Mavericks’ magic number for clinching a top-six spot is any combination of two wins or Minnesota defeats.
With the national TV audience tuning in — well, for at least for a while — perhaps Doncic earned some Most Valuable Player consideration with his 10th triple-double of the season and the 21st 30-point triple-double of his career, tying Wilt Chamberlain for fifth-most in history.
To Lakers coach Frank Vogel, one member of the Mavericks organization should be a lock for a postseason award, even though up until now his name hasn’t garnered much mention nationally: Coach Jason Kidd.
“I think he should be the Coach of the Year,” Vogel said. “I’m not saying that to get him fired. I say that out of nothing but love. He has done a phenomenal job here.”
Kidd spent two seasons on Vogel’s staff, including Los Angeles’ championship season of 2019-20. Kidd, defensive coordinator and assistant coach Greg St. Jean have in Dallas implemented the Lakers’ defensive schemes.
Clearly they’re working. Dallas is second in the NBA in scoring defense (104.1) and has in particular locked down opponents at home.
“We feel very comfortable at home,” Kidd said.
With Monday’s win, Dallas improved to 27-12 at home. That includes 19 wins in their last 23 home games, in which they have limited opponents to 100.2 points and 29.8% 3-point shooting.
“The way they’re the way they’re defending, the way they’re playing team basketball, he’s always been — as a player and as a head coach — really someone that preaches the extra pass,” Vogel said of Kidd. “And the way these guys play together is a big part of their, their success so far this season. No surprise that he’s done a great job.”
The Mavericks got 17 points from Reggie Bullock and 14 off the bench from Davis Bertans. The game wasn’t in doubt after Dallas raced to 43 first-quarter points and took as much as a 63-33 lead with 6:58 left in the second quarter.
Dallas’ 82-56 halftime lead was its largest point total for any half this season and was the third-largest in a first half in franchise history, behind the record of 85.
