LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers turned 35 on Monday and what birthday gift can be better than a victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the Staples Center on the eve of his big day?

Dallas Mavericks 95-108 Los Angeles Lakers

Though James did not shoot well in Sunday's game as he was 3-10 to get 13 points, "The King" delivered 13 assists which helped him surpass 9,000 in his career. James was the ninth player in NBA history to reach that number, the only non-point-guard to do so and the first one to drop over 33,000+points, 9,000+rebounds and 9,000+assists.

"Hell of a two-game stretch. His pace the last two nights has just been outstanding. In the open court but also in the half court, and not looking to settle," Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said of James, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"I just try to work on my mind, work on my body, work on my game. I'm just trying to stay as fresh and as positive as possible throughout this marathon and don't take it for granted," the player himself said.

It was quite surprising that the game ended in an easy win for the purple and gold for good reasons. First, both James and Anthony Davis were playing with injuries in the second back-to-back game. Second, the last time the two teams met, the Mavericks put an end to the Lakers' 10-game winning streak.

However, LA were the better team this time, thanks to their impressive defense and firm assaulting towards the rim. In the face of Luka Doncic, who averaged 29.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.1 assists this season, the Lakers have stuck to one-on-one defense by Avery Bradley, Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green. Their job was a lower body battle with Doncic; as for interfering his shot, that was the job of the big men – JaVale McGee, Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard.

Thanks to such a defense, Doncic was only 5-14 in the game and missed all his six 3-pointers. Fortunately, he earned and made nine free throws to get 19 points.

Moreover, in order to keep Doncic from creating opportunities for his teammates, every time he asked for screen with other forwards, the Lakers' would switch without hesitation to leave him with no open shots. If Doncic tried to put up screen plays with big men, both his defender and the Lakers' big men would focus on denying his shots. Meanwhile, the Lakers' wing players were always remaining in their possessions, ready to cut Doncic's passes.

Such tactics worked as Doncic only had seven assists but six turnovers. Dallas, as a team, committed 18 turnovers, giving LA 25 points by turnovers. This type of specific defense also exposed defects of Doncic: he's strong enough to beat most guards via tussling but lacks enough speed and explosiveness to dodge big men. When his lower body's trapped, it will be more difficult for him to score. Of course, the Lakers are also one of the league's few teams that have both multiple perimeter defenders with a strong lower body and quality big-man rim protectors.

In offense, the purple and gold also abused one of the biggest weaknesses of the Mavericks: Though the Texas team have multiple big men with good leaping ability, only Kristaps Porzingis is a true center, not to mention that he's never been known for strength and toughness.

The Lakers put on "Eagles Over London" in Dallas' paint to lead 54-32 in points under the rim. Howard alone finished six dunks in the first half. Davis was 8-9 in the paint, McGee was 5-6, even perimeter players like Bradley and Green kept scoring under the opponents' basket via backdoor cuts.

The Mavericks' Tim Hardaway Jr., one of their most important perimeter weapons, exited the game because of a left hamstring injury and did not return. Doncic also fell onto the ground hard in one of his drives and briefly entered the concussion protocol, though he came back in the end.

"It was scary. I fell on my back, hit my head and my elbow. I was OK," said Doncic, according to ESPN.

"We're very optimistic that this (Hardaway's injury) can be a short-term thing. We'll see. It's going to most likely be day-to-day," said Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle.

Other games on Sunday (home teams in bold):

Oklahoma City Thunder 98-97 Toronto Raptors

Charlotte Hornets 104-117 Memphis Grizzlies

Sacramento Kings 115-120 Denver Nuggets

Houston Rockets 112-127 New Orleans Pelicans