Lakers fall to Mavs in double OT.
LOS ANGELES — The Lakers lose to the Mavericks in double overtime, falling to Dallas 119–115 to lose their second straight and drop their record to 19–23.
Luka Dončić magic was too much for the Lakers, showing his elite level after hitting two clutch threes to help send it into both overtimes when the Lakers had three-point leads.
“I need to coach a little better than that in that instance,” said head coach Darvin Ham on Dončić’s gutwrenching threes to keep the Mavs alive through two overtimes.
Controversy arose following a non-foul call on a three-pointer from Troy Brown Jr. at the end of regulation, displaying an either-or foul or no-foul attempt from Mavs Tim Hardaway Jr., hitting the inside palm of his hand on the attempt with officials indicating it was a clean block.
“I thought so…When I saw it, he (the ref) wasn’t really looking at the contact of it,” said Troy Brown Jr. on the non-foul call.
“It looked clear as day that it was a foul,” said Darvin Ham on the non-call.
Referee Josh Tiven, the head referee in the Lakers' loss, explained the non-foul call:
QUESTION: Why was there no call on Troy Brown Jr.’s 3-point attempt at the end of regulation?
TIVEN: ‘Because Hardaway Jr. gets a piece of the ball on the closeout and then does make some high-five contact, which is legal, and that play was correctly no called.”
In an up-and-down outing for the Lakers, Russell Westbrook came in clutch for L.A., knocking down much-needed two straight free throws to put the Lakers up three before a cold-blooded three to send it to OT from Luka Dončić.
Westbrook finished with a team-high 28 points on 10-for-23 (43%) shooting, adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 40 minutes of action.
LeBron finished second on the Lakers with 24 points despite struggling from the floor on a 9-for-28 (32%) shooting night from the floor, adding 16 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals in a whopping 46 minutes played.
“I got a shot, I’ll take it. I work too hard on my game and on my craft to question myself,” said LeBron on his shot attempts.
The Lakers will get another two-day rest before their first game of a back-to-back this Sunday against the 25–16 Philadelphia 76ers at 6:30 PM on Spectrum SportsNet and NBA TV.
