Lakers rally from 27 down to dispatch Mavericks

Anthony Davis scored 30 points with 15 rebounds and LeBron James added 26 points as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers won the battle of dynamic duos with a 111-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, February 26 (Monday, February 27, Manila time).

In his fifth game with the Lakers, Jarred Vanderbilt added 15 points and a season-high 17 rebounds as Los Angeles stretched its winning streak to three games.

The Mavericks had Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on the court together for the fourth time, but fell to 1-3 with the newly formed partnership. Doncic scored 26 points with 9 rebounds, while Irving had 21 points and 11 assists.

Dallas failed to protect a 27-point first-half lead while losing for the fourth time in its last five games.

After the Mavericks pulled within 109-108 on a three-pointer from Justin Holiday with 6.5 seconds remaining, the Lakers’ Dennis Schroder made two free throws for the final margin, with Irving missing a half-court shot at the buzzer.

Schroder had 16 points for the Lakers, while Tim Hardaway Jr. had 17 points for the Mavericks and Christian Wood had 14.

Trailing 48-21 with 7:08 remaining in the first half, the Lakers closed the second quarter on a 10-2 run to trail 61-47 at halftime. The Los Angeles rally continued into the third quarter, as it cut the deficit to three points just over nine minutes into the period.

Los Angeles turned a five-point scoring burst by James to open the fourth quarter into an 83-81 lead. After he tweaked his right ankle with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter, James was on the Lakers bench receiving treatment when Los Angeles opened a 93-90 lead on an Austin Reaves layup with 6:49 remaining.

The teams traded the lead until a Davis dunk with two minutes remaining and James scored inside with 1:26 left as the Lakers took a 106-103 advantage. Irving scored inside for Dallas with 32 seconds remaining before Davis scored over Doncic for a 108-105 lead with 18.8 seconds left. – Rappler.com