Mavs beat winless Lakers 103-93 behind Nowitzki’s 25 points

Parsons was ineffective, compiling two points, three rebounds and three assists in 11 minutes.

Key players: Dirk Nowitzki poured in 15 of his 25 points in the first half. The Mavs also opted to rest new addition Wesley Matthews for precautionary reasons after he saw his first game action since suffering a torn left Achilles tendon on March 5. Nowitzki leads in scoring with 13.5 points and in blocks with 0.5 per game.

Even with LA playing improving in the second quarter and Roy Hibbert getting a layup at the buzzer, Dallas still led by nine points entering the locker room.

Now the Mavericks are playing their second game in Los Angeles except this time against a less superior team in the Lakers.

Despite their poor start, the Lakers only trailed by nine at halftime, 54-45.

The Lakers cut the deficit to seven early in third, part of which happened because of two consecutive threes by D’Angelo Russell, but they wouldn’t get any closer than that.

The Mavericks captured the win, 103-93, leading wire to wire and improving their record to 2-1. Poor shooting caught up to the Lakers, as the home team fell behind by 17 points to end three quarters. “I freakin’ suck”, said Bryant. “If we’re shooting 36, 37 percent as a team from 3, and we lead the league in 3’s, I wouldn’t have a problem with that”. With the players they brought in this offseason through free agency, trades, and the draft, it was curious to see how this team would work on the floor. On the other side of the court, the Lakers’ offense looked as stagnant as ever as they missed their first five shots and struggled to get a decent look. Passing has never been his strong point and this play from last night typified that. Off Dallas’ bench, Raymond Felton put in 11 points, while J.J. Barea pushed in 10 points and seven assists.

The ball movement for the Lakers was subpar once again, as they only had 18 team assists, and Randle was their high assist man with four. Astonishingly, after allowing 80 paint points to the Kings, the Lakers held the Mavericks to only 40 paint points which is a respectable amount. And after their sloppy start, they ultimately took better care of the ball, finishing with 12 turnovers. Mavs vs Lakers scores and results will be posted here.

The Mavericks are 15-34-2 ATS in their last 51 vs. Western Conference and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games.