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We thought we were going to duel Luka Doncic and LeBron James for Christmas, but what we got instead showed just how much Rob “Santa” Pelinka spoiled Lakers fans with his free agency loot, while Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schröder gutted. inside out to the Mavericks and offered a plan for what nights should look like when James and Anthony Davis can take it easy as the Lakers posted a 138-115 victory.
The Lakers got off to a much better start in this one than in their first game against the Clippers, leading 33-30 after the first quarter, and things only got better from there. The Lakers got everything they wanted inside as they built their lead at halftime, and then in the third quarter, Harrell turned his boundless energy into returns, rim runs, and every other variety of easy buckets around the rim. The Mavericks couldn’t stop any of what the Lakers were doing, and Harrell was more than happy to shove any small-sized Maverick in front of him under the basket, ultimately forcing Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle, to dust off Boban Marjanovic in the fourth quarter just for a counter with some size. Surprisingly, that didn’t change the tide and resulted in a victory for the Mavs.
Where Harrell did his damage with physicality, Schröder did so quickly, playing an annoying defense against Luka Doncic as he brought the Lakers out on the fast break, as well as deftly executing pick and rolls with Harrell to slice and dice the already porous Mavericks defense yet plus. . The reigning sixth man of the year and award runner-up are a huge change of pace for the Lakers to go when they lay down James and / or Davis, and this game was a showcase of how they can help. ease the burden on James and Davis. And between this and the first game, it’s also easy to see why the Lakers want to keep Schröder for the foreseeable future. He finished with 18 points and 6 assists, while Harrell offered his own 22 points and 7 rebounds.
Elsewhere, James and Davis were his usual solid selves, even if their production wasn’t spectacular by his normally Herculean standards. Also, a special thanks to Kyle Kuzma, who didn’t fill in the box score, but gave the Lakers some timely triples and floats to help them build their lead and looked so comfortable in his role in a (not preseason) game. ) as it has appeared since the beginning of the game in the NBA bubble last spring. And he wasn’t the only solid veteran reinforcement.
With this victory, the Lakers equaled their 1-1 record and will get Saturday off as one last little Christmas present before hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Happy Holidays everyone. Enjoy the weekend and stay safe.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast at iTunes, Spotify, Stapler or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
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