Mavericks at Lakers
The Dallas Mavericks are locked into the No. 7 spot in the Western
Conference and have little to play for when they visit the Los Angeles
Lakers on Sunday. The Mavericks will be looking to complete a four-game
season sweep of Los Angeles with one of the victories being a 34-point
shellacking on Nov. 21.
The Lakers have already clinched the worst record in franchise history and are hoping to avoid a 60-loss season. Los Angeles snapped a five-game losing streak with a 106-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday despite holding out healthy veterans Carlos Boozer, Wayne Ellington and Jordan Hill. “Some people might say that’s ‘tanking.’ I don’t know,” Lakers coach Byron Scott told reporters. “But I think you’re really just trying to evaluate the talent you have. … To me, it’s pretty simple.” The Mavericks posted a 144-143 double-overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday, letting a 23-point first-half lead get away before recording the win.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southwest (Dallas), TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (48-31): Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was amazed over Friday’s contest in which the two teams combined to score 287 points. The marathon contest was decided on point guard Raymond Felton’s layup with 1.5 seconds left. “What a great game. I mean, it’s the most interesting meaningless game I’ve ever seen but it wasn’t really meaningless,” Carlisle told reporters. “I mean, there were a lot of good things that happened for us out there and no one’s more deserving of the game-winning shot than Ray Felton. The guy has been through an epic year of challenges.”
ABOUT THE LAKERS (21-58): Forward Ryan Kelly had 21 points and center Tarik Black tallied a career-best 18 points to go with 10 rebounds in the win over the Timberwolves. Scott is examining the two frontcourt players closely to see how they might fit with the team in the future. “Our guys are going to keep playing hard and all these guys have three more games to show us what they can do,” Scott told reporters. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear to our guys that there is still something to play for – not the playoffs, or anything like that, but just pride and just being a professional and a competitor.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Dallas has won the past six meetings with Los Angeles.
2. Mavericks SF Chandler Parsons (knee) is expected to sit out for the fourth consecutive contest.
3. Lakers PG Jeremy Lin (knee) will miss his third straight game.