Doncic has always been regarded as the first person in the future, and in the face of James, Doncic has shown his all-round side. After leading the team to victory, Doncic has taken an important step towards competing for regular season MVP. On December 13, 2023, Beijing time, the Los Angeles Lakers lost 125-127 to the Dallas Mavericks. James had 33 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, and Doncic had 33 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists.
The Lakers have just won the midseason and are in a state of high excitement to beat the Mavericks to challenge for a higher regular-season standings. As for the Mavericks, they just suffered from Irving's injury problem, but Doncic has been in good form recently, and the battle between him and James is also one of the highlights of the game. The two consecutive days of rest obviously made the Lakers a little relaxed, especially on the defensive end, the Lakers frequently missed people, and were hit by the Mavericks three-pointers one after another. James didn't have much desire to attack after the opening, missing all three shots and scoring a point in the first quarter. The lack of offensive desire of the core players has also affected the status of the rest of the Lakers, and Hayes's unguarded shot under the basket will even slide out of the basket. For nearly 4 minutes, the Lakers didn't score a point, and finally Hachimura broke through the basket to score 2 points and break the Lakers' scoring deadlock on the court.
In response to the Mavericks' clamping on the outside, the Lakers began to switch to the inside, and James used the misalignment advantage to break through the inside line to make it 2+1 and break the personal scoring drought. Seeing that the Lakers' offense was rising, the Mavericks did not panic, Doncic hit a three-pointer from the outside, and then continuously caused Davis to foul offensively, and the Mavericks still firmly controlled the game. James scored 2+1 again, Doncic also returned color on the offensive end, the Lakers made another pass error, and Doncic caused a defensive foul in the counterattack. James missed a strong shot inside, and then complained to the referee, but the defense was not timely, Seth seized the opportunity to hit a three-pointer, and the Mavericks stretched the gap to 13 points. Hachimura launched a fast attack after a steal, rushed to the front court and passed back to James, who jumped high and slammed a one-handed dunk.
If the Lakers want to win the game, then James must step up and lead the team, and in the first half, James also consciously retained his fitness. At the start of the third quarter, James scored four points in a row, and after the Mavericks scored through the transition, James hit two consecutive three-pointers from the outside, and after scoring 10 points in the second quarter, he also scored 10 points in the third quarter. Prince hit a three-pointer from James' pass, and Lively jumped high in the air to smash the ball into the basket, and the two sides went head-to-head. James and Russell completed the cooperation, cut to the basket for a layup, although the ball did not score, but James jumped in time to make up for the ball, and the Lakers overtook the Mavericks by 4 points.
The Lakers gradually picked up on the offensive end, while the Mavericks relied on two three-pointers to regain the lead. Reaves scored 2+1 under the basket, and the Lakers' offensive firepower was continued. However, the Lakers frequently left holes on the defensive end, especially not paying attention to Exum, and were hit by opponents on the outside line one after another. In their eagerness to chase points, the Lakers made more mistakes on the offensive end, and in the end they were unable to chase points. In the end, the Lakers lost to the Mavericks on the road.