On December 13, Beijing time, the NBA regular season once again set off a fierce battle, and the Mavericks and the Lakers faced off. The two teams have met once this season, when the Mavericks narrowly won by a narrow 3-point margin. Today's game was just as intense, and the score was still very close until the last minute. In the end, with Exum's god-accurate three-pointer, the Mavericks defeated the Lakers 127-125. In terms of technical statistics, in the Lakers, James contributed 33 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Davis cut 37 points and 11 rebounds, while Reaves also had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, and Prince contributed 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. On the Mavericks, Williams had 19 points and 3 rebounds, Hardaway Jr. contributed 32 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Doncic performed well, cutting down 33 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists, and Exum also contributed 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the two sides launched fierce offense and defense, and the score kept taking the lead alternately. The Lakers took a slight lead at 8-7, but then back-to-back three-pointers from Williams and Exum sent the Mavericks to a mini-surge to tie the score. Although Prince also keeps hitting three-pointers from the outside, the Lakers' offense as a whole is on the downside. With Doncic and Hardaway Jr. firing on fire again, the Mavericks continued to cement their lead, leading the Lakers 34-26 at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Hardaway Jr. and Doncic continued to perform their skills on the outside, while Reaves and James also contributed on the inside, preventing the margin from continuing to widen. Davis showed great scoring ability under the basket, allowing the Lakers to close the score again. Williams hit another corner three-pointer, and Doncic's back-to-back free throws gave the Mavericks a double-double lead. Seth Curry's goal widened the gap even further. Despite Prince's long-range shot, the Lakers trailed 61-71 at halftime.
At the start of the second half, the Mavericks still scored first. Williams hit another three-pointer from the outside, and Doncic hit a steady free throw after being fouled. James made a steal and layup, and Russell once again showed excellent scoring ability. The Lakers worked hard to narrow the gap to just three points. After the timeout, Holmes scored a free throw and Hardaway's 2+1 attack was successful. Davis and Hayes scored back-to-back baskets, and a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Davis at the end of the quarter gave the Lakers a 95-93 lead over the Mavericks.
At the beginning of the final quarter, Reaves assisted James on a layup and scored two more points, and Williams sniped from a distance to stop the bleeding for the Mavericks. Exum's long-range shot hit again, allowing the Mavericks to overtake the Lakers again. Hachimura and James counter-attacked to regain the lead, but Exum's long-range shot back put the score into a tug-of-war again, and the score was tied several times. In the following game, Exum used consecutive three-pointers to help the Mavericks take the lead, and Doncic's assist for Lively's score further widened the difference. Prince's long-range shot stopped the bleeding, but Doncic immediately responded with two points. When the Lakers were actively chasing points, Exum's long-range shot hit the ground running, and finally helped the Mavericks seal the win. Even if James made a buzzer-beating three-pointer in the final minute of the game, it didn't help, and in the end, the Mavericks narrowly beat the Lakers 127-125.
The starting lineups for both sides are Doncic, Seth Curry, Exum, Gwee and Lively for the Mavericks, while the Lakers field Russell, Prince, Reddish, James and Davis.