Mavericks at Lakers
The Dallas Mavericks look to defeat Los Angeles for the 10th consecutive
time when they visit the slumping Lakers on Tuesday. Dallas beat Los
Angeles twice in November and now catches a Lakers' squad that has
dropped six straight games and 10 of their last 11.
The Mavericks fell 115-104 to the Houston Rockets on Sunday to begin a three-game road trip that concludes with Wednesday's game against the Golden State Warriors. Tuesday's contest marks the final time retiring Lakers star Kobe Bryant will face Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki on the basketball court. Bryant ranks third on the all-time scoring list with 33,084 points while Nowitzki sits sixth at 28,863. Bryant might not be in the happiest mood as he reportedly ripped the attitudes of rookie guard D'Angelo Russell and second-year forward Julius Randle following Saturday's 121-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (25-21): Small forward Chandler Parsons is on a scoring roll after pouring in a season-best 31 points in the loss to the Rockets. Parsons is averaging 29 points over the past three games and is 16-of-24 from 3-point range over his last four contests. "I got in a good rhythm there early and guys did a good job finding me," Parsons said afterward. "Coach (Rick Carlisle) did a good job putting me in good spots to attack and be aggressive but it wasn't enough."
ABOUT THE LAKERS (9-37): Russell has put together two consecutive strong statistical outings - averaging 19.5 points on 16-of-22 shooting - and Randle has 15 double-doubles this season. But neither player was down after the loss to Portland - reports say they were smiling - so Bryant lit into the two youngsters in the locker room and coach Byron Scott bemoaned the lack of positive steps. "We can't move on until they learn," Scott told reporters. "We've had to go backwards a little bit and go back to some of the things that we talked about in training camp and start going over that again because we've gotten away from it. Again, it's not punishment, but until you can prove to me that we're ready to move on and do those things on a consistent basis, I've got to go back to the basics."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks have beaten the Lakers four straight times at the Staples Center.
2. Bryant has scored in single digits in five of the past seven games.
3. Dallas C Zaza Pachulia (Achilles) could miss his second straight game, and the club hopes he'll be recovered for the Golden State contest.