Mavs-Lakers Preview: New Looks Are (Sort of) Showcased at Matinee

If the Mavericks feel like a new team after the trade deadline frenzy, the Los Angeles Lakers can understand.

Yes, superstars are still out there – with the exception of Russell Westbrook.

LeBron James is still one of the best players in history, if not the best, and Anthony Davis is still a beast when healthy. And that makes the Lakers dangerous, even if they’ve played under .500 this season.

Just like the Mavericks are dangerous simply because they still have Luka Doncic.

And they’ll all come together on Sunday afternoon to please another sold-out crowd at the American Airlines Center, as well as national television audiences on ABC.

“There are stars on both sides,” said coach Jason Kidd. “You got the best thing you’ve ever played with LeBron, and the Lakers are another team with a trade.”

As a result of this deal, Westbrook was thrown overboard, and in return he received DeAngelo Russell from Minnesota and Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley from Utah.

It was 60% of the Lakers’ new starting lineup Thursday night when they thrashed Golden State 124-111 in Los Angeles. They teamed up with James and Davis and the results were impressive: three wins in their first four games since the deal was made.

This is the Lakers’ latest attempt to reclaim their place in the Western Conference. They are still out of the postseason picture with a 28-32 record. But they are also just 3.5 games behind the Mavericks, who are in sixth place in the West as of Saturday.

The Lakers don’t have to play the lockout to the end. But they will have to achieve some wins they don’t expect if they hope to beat many teams and make the playoffs. Getting to the play-in tournament is probably more realistic.

And, by the way, the Mavericks would be regarded as one of those victories that the Lakers did not count on.

With rookies Beasley and Russell, the Lakers have a couple of strong scorers, and Vanderbilt, Kidd said on Friday, “does all the dirty work for them.”

This will be a good test for Mavericks with a lot of storylines. Kyrie Irving and James have come a long way since winning the championship together in Cleveland. And of course, Luka grew up idolizing LeBron and always enjoyed playing against him.

Here are a few other notable things to look out for as the Mavericks try to beat the Lakers 3-0 this season with one game left in mid-March.

• LeBron is completely illogical. By averaging 28.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7 assists per game, he does what no one should be doing at 38. When the Mavericks beat the Lakers in Los Angeles in January, he had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists. When the Lakers visited the Mavericks on Christmas Day, LeBron had 38 points in a nine-point Mavericks win.
• In their first three games together, Doncic and Irving extended the Mavericks’ offense to an average of 130.3 points. Unfortunately, five consecutive opponents made at least 50 percent of their shots against the Mavericks. And the opponents scored at least 114 points in each of the last five games.
• The Mavericks are looking to continue integrating Justin Holiday, who was signed from the buyout market shortly before the All-Star break. He had a crushing debut on Thursday with 15 points on five of six shots from three-point range. “Getting it is what adds depth, allowing you to play with it in different places,” Kidd said. “We don’t expect him to go five out of six again. But this gives us another threat and depth on the flank.” The Mavericks could also possibly bring back Maxi Kleber, who pulled out on Dec. 13 with a hamstring injury.
• Davis has missed numerous games this season due to injury, but since returning in late January, Davis has averaged 21.8 points and 12.5 rebounds in 11 games from a 6-10 lead. He also drops nearly two blocks per game. If the Mavericks want to make him shoot 3s, that’s fine. Since his return, Davis has shot just 19 percent from three.
• After going undrafted in 2021, Lakers guard Austin Reeves has turned into a pretty functional NBA player. This season, he’s shooting 37.7% of 3-pointers and is averaging just over 10 points. The former Oklahoma and Wichita State player scored 17 points after a game against Golden State when he didn’t miss, hitting all six field goals, his only three-pointer and all four free throws.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS (28-32) – DALLAS MAVERICS (32-29)

• When: 14:30 Sunday.
• Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
• TV: ABC (Channel 8 locally).
• Radio:1 FM, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

Twitter: @ESefko

Post-Publish Mavs-Lakers Preview: The new looks (sort of) showing off at the matinee have made their first appearance at the official Dallas Mavericks home.

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