The Los Angeles Lakers were able to get the win on Halloween against the Dallas Mavericks. However, it wasn’t pretty.
After losing two straight games, the Los Angeles Lakers had what looked like a somewhat easy matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Halloween night. As a decent sized favorite, the Lakers were expected to win this game. While they did get the win, it did not come easy.
To start the game, it looked like the Lakers were going to cruise to an easy victory. Los Angeles was able to jump the Mavericks in the first quarter and take a very comfortable lead heading into the second frame. However, the Mavericks were able to begin to chip away at the lead and make things interesting.
Even though the Lakers won the third quarter and once again had a nice lead going into the 4th, the Mavericks erased that lead once again. Dallas ended up coming all the way back to tie the game before a strange foul with 3 seconds left by Wes Matthews sent LeBron James to the free throw line.
James was able to hit one of the two free throws and that ended up being enough for the Lakers to hold on. After the game, Walton talked about accomplishing two of the main goals going into the matchup. Here’s what he had to say to Dan Duangdao of LakersNation.com.
"“I thought we did a really nice job tonight of our two main goals,” Lakers head coach Luke Walton began. “Offensively, just keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll get better with that. Defensively, rebound the basketball and keep them off the free throw line to a reasonable number.”"
On the offensive end, the Lakers did a fine job against the Mavericks as they scored 114 points and shot over 50 percent from the field and from behind the arc. One issue that the offense will have to keep working on is the turnovers, as they had 20 in the game.
On the defensive end of the court, things were better for the Lakers, as they only lost the rebounding battle by one, and didn’t send the Mavericks to the free throw line too often. While it was a solid showing for most of the game, the fourth quarter was a disaster for the Lakers. They lost the quarter by 12, and nearly blew this game.
Next up for the Lakers will be another trip to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers. After accomplishing Walton’s goals in the win against the Mavericks, the Lakers will have to close better if they want to get a win against the Trail Blazers.