Mavericks at Lakers
The Dallas Mavericks aren't winning many games this season but they hold a recent mastery of the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas is looking for its 12th consecutive win over the host Lakers on Thursday, and the streak includes a 109-97 win in Los Angeles on Nov. 8.
The Lakers have dropped five straight home games to the Mavericks and their most recent win in the series was a 101-81 victory on April 2, 2013, when Kobe Bryant had a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Neither team is enjoying much success this season as Dallas has been one of the worst teams in the Western Conference since the outset of the season and Los Angeles owns the same number of losses (league-high 23) as the Mavericks and 76ers. The Lakers dropped to 2-13 in December with a 102-100 home loss against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday while the Mavericks suffered a 123-107 home loss to the Houston Rockets. Dallas is a woeful 3-14 on the road while the Lakers are playing the third contest of a five-game homestand.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (9-23): Veteran power forward Dirk Nowitzki only saw playing time in the first half of each of the three games since his recent return from an Achilles' tendon injury. That same pattern figures to hold true against the Lakers as Dallas wants to proceed cautiously and not risk Nowitzki experiencing a setback. Point guard Deron Williams struggled against Houston with six points on 2-of-11 shooting after averaging 18.5 points over the previous eight contests.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (12-23): Young forward Julius Randle continues to improve and the 22-year-old recorded his ninth double-double of the season when he matched his season best of 25 points to go with 12 rebounds in the loss to Utah. Randle has eight double-digit scoring outings and five double-figure rebounding efforts during December despite recently missing two games due to the birth of his son. Point guard D'Angelo Russell scored just four points on 2-of-11 shooting against Utah and only attempted six total free throws over the past six games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks were just 32-104 all-time against the Lakers before the current 11-game winning streak.
2. Los Angeles backup SG Lou Williams scored 22 points against Utah for his seventh 20-point outing of the month.
3. Dallas C Andrew Bogut collected six rebounds in 11 scoreless minutes against the Rockets after missing the previous 11 games with a knee injury.