The Los Angeles Lakers came into Dallas as heavy favorites against a Mavs team that was still missing Luka Doncic due to injury. However, after a Jalen Brunson takeover and some sloppy shooting from both teams down the stretch, the two teams found themselves in a dogfight that required overtime to resolve.
It was the Lakers’ sixth overtime game of the season, and they can’t seem to avoid making games close, for better or worse. The good news is that whenever they get to overtime, they are extremely good, improving to 5-1 in overtimes this season with a 107-104 victory over the Mavs. After Jalen Brunson and Kristaps Porzingis shredded the Lakers defense in the fourth quarter to put Dallas up seven points, L.A.’s defense tightened and the Lakers clawed their way back in.
Even so, they needed a minor miracle as they shot some terrible threes down the stretch, as LeBron James missed a three on their final possession of regulation, which Maxi Kleber and Porzingis fought over, with the ball eventually squirting out to a waiting Wayne Ellington, who hit the game-tying three with two seconds to play.
On Dallas’ final play, a Trey Burke deep three went begging, and the game proceeded to OT. Both teams had “found money” moments late in overtime, with Russell Westbrook hitting an out-of-rhythm corner three and the Mavs responding with a Kleber banked in three from the wing to level the game at 104-104.
On the Lakers final possession, the Mavs did a great job forcing the ball to Westbrook again in the corner, who didn’t take the bait and drove, collapsing the Mavs defense just enough to spring Austin Reaves open on the right wing, who knocked down his fifth three of the ball game with 0.9 seconds to play to give the Lakers the win.
Reaves finished with 15 points, all from the three-point line, and got mobbed by his teammates after hitting the clutch three (which also could’ve been ruled a foul with the contact that came after the shot). Dallas, out of timeouts, couldn’t even get a heave off in time and for the fifth time this season, the Lakers escaped overtime with a win.
