Anthony Davis (#3) of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks in the game against the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 17, 2024. /CFP
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 127-110 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, securing their second straight win.
The purple and gold have been one of the NBA's worst 3-point shooting teams this season, shooting the fewest and making the third-fewest triples per game. By contrast, the Mavericks are No. 2 on both fronts. However, the Lakers outperformed the opponents in outside firepower in Wednesday's game at home.
D'Angelo Russell alone knocked down five triples out of seven attempts. LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Max Christie all made shots from downtown. The whole team went 12-for-28 outside the 3-point line. Though they only made one more triple than the Mavericks, they did it in a much more accurate way as the opponents missed 29 of their 40 attempts behind the arc.
D'Angelo Russell (#1) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots in the game against the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 17, 2024. /CFP
The Lakers are not as reliant as the Mavericks on 3-point shooting for their offense. Making more triples than the opponents was more like putting a cherry on top. The team was one of the league's sharpest in attacking the paint with Anthony Davis' dominance. He shot 12-for-19 from the field, all within the 3-point line. Not only did he score 18 points in the paint, Davis also grabbed five offensive rebounds.
The Mavericks had committed 12.1 turnovers per game before Wednesday, the fewest of all 30 teams in the NBA. They had three more on Wednesday night, which was not too much worse. However, the true hurtful part was that the Lakers made good use of nearly every of them to score easy buckets in fast break. They got 25 more points than the Mavericks (32-7) on this front.
Russell, Davis and James combined to drop 82 points and all them went over 50 percent in field goals (FGs) in Wednesday's game. Davis missed a triple-double by one assist. Reaves, as the fourth one of the team that scored in double digits, contributed 14 points and seven assists.
LeBron James (#23) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots in the game against the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 17, 2024. /CFP
Luka Doncic came back for the Mavericks after a three-game break. He shot 12-for-24 to get a triple-double of 33 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the team. Nonetheless, he and the rest of the team struggled badly to make triples, which cost them the game. Doncic missed seven of his nine attempts from outside; Kyrie Irving made only one of his five shots there; Tim Hardaway Jr. saw all seven of his 3-pointers end as bricks.
The two best-performing Mavericks from downtown on Wednesday night were Derrick Jones Jr. and Maxi Kleber, who were left open on usual days. The team lost all of the games in which they failed to make 10 or more triples. They knocked down 11 against the Lakers, but two of them were drained during garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Dejounte Murray (#5) of the Atlanta Hawks shoots in the game against the Orlando Magic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., January 17, 2024. /CFP
Other games on Wednesday night (away teams come first):
Orlando Magic 104-106 Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks made it back to top 10 in the Eastern Conference and the play-in tournament zone after Dejounte Murray beat the buzzer from the left elbow area over the head of Markelle Fultz at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. He went 11-for-18 in FGs to get team-high 26 points for the Hawks, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
The Hawks launched their final attack from the baseline without calling their final timeout. Only 8.4 seconds before Murray's big play, Paolo Banchero drained a key triple off the dribble from the right wing to tie the score at 104 for the Magic. He didn't finish the game with the best efficiency, but fairly speaking, Banchero had to take a lot of tough shots as the only offensive ace on the team's rotations that lacked Franz Wagner.
Anfernee Simons (#1) of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots in the game against tbe Brooklyn Nets at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, U.S., January 17, 2024. /CFP
Brooklyn Nets 103-105 Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers ended their four-game losing streak thanks to the 0.2-second game-winning floater made by Anfernee Simons at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. He had missed 12 of his 19 shots before the final play, but went 4-for-6 in the fourth period. The decisive shot was made over former All-Defensive First Team wingman Mikal Bridges. Simons received the ball outside the 3-point line, beat Bridges' defense with a crossover dribble and broke into the paint. He shot the ball out of his hand before Nic Claxton came in to deflect. The shot path was high and the ball fell right into the center of the net to ignite Rip City.
Minnesota Timberwolves 124-117 Detroit Pistons
San Antonio Spurs 98-117 Boston Celtics
Milwaukee Bucks 95-135 Cleveland Cavaliers
Houston Rockets 94-109 New York Knicks
Miami Heat 97-121 Toronto Raptors
Charlotte Hornets 112-132 New Orleans Pelicans