As they continue to turn American Airlines Center into a chamber of horrors for opponents, the Mavericks have reached the point where things that seemed impossible as recently as last week now are very realistic.
Third place in the Western Conference, anybody?
At this point, anything’s possible.
Especially the way Luka Dončić is powering the Mavericks. His 10th triple-double of the season guided them to a smashing 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The visitors played without LeBron James (ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (foot injury).
The win left the Mavericks just a game behind Golden State for third in the Western Conference. If you haven’t noticed, the Warriors have lost six of seven and continue to be without Steph Curry as he recovers from a foot injury.
At the very least, the Mavericks continue to strengthen their grip on the fourth seed and accompanying home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs as they stayed ahead of Utah and the remaining games (now just six) continue to dwindle.
Dončić made sure there were no slip-ups against the Lakers. Before the third quarter was half over, he already had the 46th triple-double of his career.
He would finish with 34 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists and rested in the fourth quarter.
Dončić now has 21 triple-doubles when scoring 30 points or more. That ties Wilt Chamberlain for fifth on the all-time list. And, of course, Luka is only 23.
“I just hope many more,” Dončić said. “I don’t know what to say. I remember on draft night, I just wanted to be picked. I didn’t know I was going to have this impact. I just got to keep working and hopefully one day win the championship.”
The 6-7 point guard has been on a terrific run for months. He’s making the game look easy. Almost too easy.
“It just seems normal now,” said Davis Bertāns, who hit four of five 3-pointers and had 14 points off the bench. “Everybody understands what he’s doing now is incredible. But at the same time, he’s kind of spoiled everybody. The game just seems to come so simple (to him).”
Against the Lakers, there was no resistance. Without James, LA posed no threat after the early minutes. The Mavericks’ 82 points in the first half was their most in any half this season.
James had been listed as doubtful, but was ruled out about 90 minutes before the game. The Mavericks had no letdown because of it.
“We respect who they are,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We took care of business from the start. I thought Luka and those guys set the tone. Three great quarters of basketball. We got the win and now we move on to Cleveland.”
The Mavericks happily took their fourth win at AAC in a row and now are 7-1 at home since the All-Star break.
They are 27-12 for the season on their home floor. That’s the best record at AAC since the championship season of 2010-11, when they were 29-12, a mark they can duplicate with two wins in the final two games of the season.
That will come after a four-game trip that starts in Cleveland on Wednesday night. The Mavericks did not have to overextend anybody against the Lakers, which should help on the second leg of back-to-back games.
“The way we’re playing at home, we’re very comfortable,” Kidd said. “Hopefully that’s to our advantage. To be able to protect home during the playoffs, we understand that helps you achieve your goal and that’s to win a championship.”
It was hard to gauge anything off of Tuesday, when the Mavericks led by as much as 37 points. If they weren’t who they are, you almost would have felt sorry for the Lakers.
But they are the purple-clad owners of 19 NBA championships, the team that had Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and, of course, the Logo himself, Jerry West.
And, yes, LeBron, who looked dapper in an all-white outfit that seemed perfect for a round of golf.
So, with that roll call of historic basketball players, the Lakers get sympathy from nobody as they slog along with a 31-44 record and are in danger of missing the NBA playoffs.
They slipped to 11th in the West with the loss as San Antonio, which owns the tiebreaker, crept into a tie with the Lakers.
When the Mavericks were up 43-25 after the first quarter, it had already become apparent this was going to be more about keeping their focus than any stress the Lakers could put on them. The LA defense lacked any interest and the score ballooned to 63-33 midway through the second quarter.
After that, it was only a matter of how many different ways the Mavericks could practice their victory formation.
Twitter: @ESefko
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