LOS ANGELES – Two of the NBA’s high-profile players will be on full display Thursday at 9 p.m. when Luka Doncic and
the Dallas Mavericks square off against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
For the Mavs, Doncic is the ringleader and also is one of the frontrunners for the Most Valuable Player award. The fifth-year point guard leads the NBA in scoring (34.2 ppg), is 20th in rebounds (8.9 rpg), fourth in assists (8.7 apg), tied for sixth in steals (1.6 spg), and tied for 18th in three-pointers made per game (2.9).
In short, as Doncic goes, so go the Mavs.
Doncic enters Thursday’s game following Tuesday’s magnificent performance against the Los Angeles Clippers when he finished with 43 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. That includes collecting 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the second half, with 20 of those points coming in the frenetic fourth quarter.
When the Mavs defeated the Lakers, 124-115, on Christmas Day, Doncic finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals, 
and was 9-of-16 from the floor and 12-of-16 from the charity stripe.
James, meanwhile, also has been putting up eye-popping numbers this season considering he’s 38 years old. Now in his 20th season, James is just 35 points away from joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only NBA players to score at least 38,000 career points.
Abdul-Jabbar is the game’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points, while James is second with 37,965 points and will likely become the all-time leading scorer sometimes within the next month or so. In that Christmas Day game against the Mavs, James finished with 38 points, six rebounds and five assists and was 13-of-23 from the field and 12-of-12 from the free throw line.
With celebrities lining the courtside seats, Thursday’s game promises to be a show-stopper — with Doncic and James at center stage in a game that will be televised nationally on TNT.
*This is the third of a five-game road trip for the Mavs. The trip is off to a not-so-pleasant start after the Mavs dropped games to Oklahoma City (120-109) and the Los Angeles Clippers (113-101). After Thursday’s game, the Mavs will play
twice in Portland on Saturday and Sunday before returning home to host the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 18.
*Dwight Powell (right hip contusion) is questionable for Thursday’s game, while Josh Green (right elbow sprain), Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor strain), and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear) will all sit this one out. Powell suffered his injury during the first half of Tuesday’s 113-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
*For the Lakers, LeBron James (left ankle soreness) and Troy Brown Jr. (left quad strain) are officially listed as probable, Patrick Beverley (right hip soreness) is questionable, while Anthony Davis (right foot stress injury), Austin Reaves (left hamstring strain) and Lonnie Walker IV (left knee tendinitis) will not play Thursday. James sat out Monday’s
122-109 loss in Denver with soreness in his left ankle.
*Not lost in the Christmas Day win over the Lakers were phenomenal performances by Christian Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. Wood had a game for the ages as he stacked the stat sheet with 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks, and was 12-of-17 from the floor. Hardaway collected 26 points and six rebounds and was 10-of-19 from the field, including 6-of-14 from beyond the three-point arc.
*Before this road trip started, the Mavs won eight of their previous nine games. Before losing to the Nuggets, the Lakers reeled off five straight victories.
*If the season ended today, the Mavs would enter the playoffs as the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed while the 12th-seeded Lakers wouldn’t qualify for the play-in tournament.
DALLAS MAVERICKS (23-19) at LOS ANGELES LAKERS (19-22)
When: 9 p.m., Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
TV: TNT
Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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