LOS ANGELES – Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic put ona show on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,997 at the Crypto.com Arena.
Reaves hit 12-of-15 shots, including six from long distance, to finish with 38 while Doncic added 35 with 11 assists and five rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers escaped with a 129-119 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks.
Returning to Los Angeles for the first time since being traded to Dallas last February, Anthony Davis, who had missed 14 games with a strained calf, acquitted himself well.
Despite a minutes restriction that kept to just 28 minutes of action. AD finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five dimes to help the Mavericks keep pace with the Lakers in a close contest until late in the fourth period when the home team pulled away.
PJ Washington paced the Mavericks with 22 while rookie sensation Cooper Flagg added 13 and seven boards but Dallas fell short after shooting just 44-of-91 from the field (48 percent) compared to the Lakers’ blistering 45 of 76 clip (59 percent),
But the Lakers simply had too much firepower.
Besides Reaves and Doncic, the Lakers also had the luxury of LeBron James, who joined the fray with 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
The Lakers improved to 14-4 with their sixth straight victory while the Mavericks sank to 5-15.
