Page 1 of 1

Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at Mavericks GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 8:25 am
by KobeMVP888
(21-19) LAKERS at MAVERICKS (18-21)

Monday, January 7, 2019, 5:30 PM PDT
American Airlines Center • Dallas, TX

Referees: Tony Brown (#6), Michael Smith (#38), Ray Acosta (#54)

Replay Center: Bennie Adams, Brent Barnaky, Brett Nansel

Line: Mavs -7

Local TV: Spectrum SportsNet

Image

Image

GAME PREVIEW: LAKERS AT MAVERICKS


by NBA.com

The Dallas Mavericks will look to get back to some home cooking, while the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking for anything good to happen when the two teams slipping down the Western Conference standings meet Monday night.

The Lakers, who are still awaiting LeBron James' return from a groin injury,dropped to 1-5 without the NBA's leading All-Star vote-getter after getting destroyed Sunday afternoon at Minnesota. The Lakers' descent in the West standings has been swift and also aided by power forward Kyle Kuzma missing the last two games, both losses, with a bruised lower back.

Los Angeles, which has defeated the Mavs twice earlier season in Los Angeles, are hopeful Kuzma will be ready to the face the Mavs, who in contrast to their 3-18 road record, are 15-3 at home and have won 13 of their last 14 at American Airlines Center.

Lakers backup point guard Rajon Rondo has missed six games and will be out for an extended period following surgery to repair his right ring finger. But it's James' absence that is a killer for a team that rode his 27.3 points a game to as high as fourth place in the crowded and competitive West playoff chase.

Suddenly the LeBron-less Lakers make their first trip to Dallas clinging to the eighth playoff spot, and knowing James won't be back in uniform for at least another two games.

"We've got to get him healthy," Lakers coach Luke Walton said of James on Friday. "We all talk all year, we need everyone on our team. You don't want anyone to get hurt. That's how the NBA season plays out. We're down in bodies. It's going to be a challenge, but our guys should be excited for that. We've got to find a way to keep playing at a high level and try to finish some of these games out."

Only the Denver Nuggets (16-3) have a better home record in the West than the Mavs, who will be thrilled to be back on their home floor after a 1-3 road swing. The lone victory came at Charlotte, when Dallas buried 10 3-pointers in the first quarter to build an insurmountable early lead on Wednesday.

Monday's game is an important one for Dallas, which has seen its short stay in the top eight of the West quickly slide.

"It's not just about going," Mavs guard Wesley Matthews told the Dallas Morning News following Saturday's 106-100 loss at Philadelphia. "We know what we can do at home. If we want to get where we want to go, we're going to have to win on the road. We're not cowards. We're not quitters. It's got to happen out here (on the road)."

Dallas is home for a quick two-game homestand. The Phoenix Suns are in town Wednesday and then the Mavs play three of their next five on the road at Minnesota, Indiana and Milwaukee.

The Lakers will be playing their ninth of 13 sets of back-to-back games this season. They are 5-3 on the second night of consecutive games, but 0-1 without James.


http://www.nba.com/games/20190107/LALDAL#/preview

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 8:54 am
by KobeMVP888
I'll watch the Alabama-Clemson game rather than put myself in a bad mood.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:12 am
by Moos
I'm really pissed off right now about da Lakers! I'll just drink some coffee and be done with it for the day. Have a nice day everyone, be happy. No :panic: ing :slamdunk:

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:45 pm
by lakerevolution
KobeMVP888 wrote:I'll watch the Alabama-Clemson game rather than put myself in a bad mood.


Beating Dallas should be a :shrug: but, well . . we'll probably let Dirk come off his 0-for-10 night and score 20 on us. 20 losses in the first week of January pans out to close to 40 losses by April. The West is waking up and gelling, while we seem to be in the same continually dysfunctional rut we've lingered in for the last 5 years.

But at least we're above .500 :seestars:

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:56 pm
by 3Peatkb24
KobeMVP888 wrote:I'll watch the Alabama-Clemson game rather than put myself in a bad mood.

LOL, I do not blame you. We are just not that good without LeBron. A loss here puts us only 1 game above .500 at the halfway mark at 21-20.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:33 pm
by lakerevolution
BOOM BOOM!

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:44 pm
by 3Peatkb24
Real ugly 1st Half, down 67-54. I am at work so I am not missing much. I just checked the Box Score.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:45 pm
by Lakers4Life
This is just unforgivable

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 8:37 pm
by 3Peatkb24
Ok that is what I am talking about! Lakers now up 94-82 with 9 minutes left. Great stuff! Ingram has 24, Ball with 18 so far.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 8:58 pm
by 3Peatkb24
We needed this win badly and got it, 22-19 halfway through. We need to get healthy so we have some sort of Chemistry moving forward. We still have half a season to get our shit together and make a run.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 9:42 pm
by lakerevolution
Lakers4Life wrote:This is just unforgivable


A tale of two halfs. I'm thinking Pau used his professor x telepathy to tell Lonzo to put his big boy pants on. Funny how Lance dances less/more on different nights -- he only played 3 minutes. Very good mixed scoring, boards and dimes from our front 7, and now we have a Ball :silly3:

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:55 pm
by KobeMVP888
Fuckin' A! Second half DEFENSE. I'll take the spilt.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:07 am
by 3Peatkb24
KobeMVP888 wrote:Fuckin' A! Second half DEFENSE. I'll take the spilt.


The great thing about the NBA is it is such a long season. We have plenty of time to get healthy and get it together. We are currently in the 8th spot at 22-19, as long we do not draw the Warriors in the 1st round we can beat anyone else if LeBron is 100%.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:21 am
by lakerevolution
3Peatkb24 wrote:
KobeMVP888 wrote:Fuckin' A! Second half DEFENSE. I'll take the spilt.


The great thing about the NBA is it is such a long season. We have plenty of time to get healthy and get it together. We are currently in the 8th spot at 22-19, as long we do not draw the Warriors in the 1st round we can beat anyone else if LeBron is 100%.



50-32 would require a 28-13 finish.
47-35 would require a 25-16 finish.

Anything worse than that may not get us in.

Re: Game 41: 01/07/19 Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:42 am
by KobeMVP888
lakerevolution wrote:50-32 would require a 28-13 finish.
47-35 would require a 25-16 finish.

Anything worse than that may not get us in.


Agreed and doable provided that LeBron gets and stays healthy, but having been through Kobe, Pau, Nash and now LeBron with old player injuries, I'm not overly optimistic about it even if LeBron is seemingly Super Human (he's not).

Despite a poor game shooting, Kyle Kuzma's return was critical for the overall success last night. Having Kuz and Beasley, the underrated player of the game, sharing the 4 was necessary. We can't win basketball games in the NBA without a power forward, so Kuzma's absence the last 3 games was a big fucking deal.

I'm hoping a switch turned on last night and that we turned a corner ow whatever the fuck cliche you want to use. As 3Peat said it is a long season and the nature of the beast is to get emotional every game. When we win, we're high and glass fullers and when we lose it is natural to see an empty glass.

Fuck it. Let's go 31-10 the rest of the way in!