On December 13, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a major event, with the Mavericks playing against the Lakers. In the first meeting between the two sides this season, the Mavericks narrowly won by three points. The two sides faced off again, and the battle was still fierce, and the score was difficult to solve until the last moment. In the end, the Mavericks defeated the Lakers 127-125 with Exum's god-accurate three-pointer.
Technical statistics: Lakers: James 33 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Davis 37 points and 11 rebounds, Reaves 22 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Prince 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Mavericks: Williams 19 points and 3 rebounds, Hardaway Jr. 32 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Doncic 33 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists, Exum 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the two sides went back and forth, and the score was deadlocked. After the Lakers took a slight lead, Williams and Exum hit consecutive three-pointers, and the Mavericks overtook the score with a small climax. Prince also hit a three-pointer, but the Lakers' overall offense was on the downside. Doncic and Hardaway Jr. teamed up for two more three-pointers as the Mavericks continued to extend their lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks led the Lakers 34-26.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Hardaway Jr. and Doncic continued to play on the outside, Reaves and James also played their own games, and Davis was like a bamboo on the inside. The Lakers' main players gradually closed the score. However, Williams hit another three-pointer and Doncic scored back-to-back points to help the Mavericks extend their lead to double digits. Seth Curry also hit another three-pointer to continue to widen the difference. Prince made a long-range shot to chase the score, and Davis completed a 2+1 attack on the inside. At halftime, the Lakers trailed by 10 points, 61-71.
At the start of the second half, the Mavericks scored first. Williams hit another three-pointer and Doncic was rewarded with a free throw. James scored on a layup after a steal, and Russell also hit a three-pointer. The Lakers played a small surge to narrow the score to just three points. After returning from a timeout, Holmes scored on a free throw, and Hardaway hit a 2+1 throw. Davis and Hayes scored back-to-back points inside, and Davis hit another buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the quarter to give the Lakers a 95-93 lead over the Mavericks.
After the start of the final quarter, Reaves assisted James on a layup to score, and Williams hit another three-pointer to stop the bleeding for the Mavericks. However, Exum hit another three-pointer and the Mavericks overtook the Lakers again. Hachimura and James combined to regain the lead, and Exum hit another three-pointer to shoot back. The scores of the two sides entered a tug-of-war, and the scores were drawn several times. At the moment when the Lakers were chasing the score, Exum hit consecutive three-pointers to help the Mavericks seal the victory. James' buzzer-beating three-pointers didn't help, and the Mavericks narrowly beat the Lakers 127-125.