I hope everybody had a happy Christmas whether y’all celebrate it or not.

I don’t think the Lakers had themselves one after losing to the Dallas Mavericks, 124-115.

So nowadays, I feel like I have to bring something up from my preview every time on why it went wrong for the Lakers:

“The Mavs like to slow it down (29th in pace and fewest fast break points in the league). They also put up a ton of threes (third most in made threes and attempts). They don’t shoot the best percentage but the sheer volume of three-pointers can overwhelm a team. Luka is going to get his; he’s a superstar, after all. But the Lakers better make sure to stop everyone else.“

Yup. 18 out of 44 threes (.409). That is a lot of three-pointers. And I talked about the Lakers having to stop everyone else because Luka was going to get his, anyway. Well, Christian Wood had a field day with 30 points, 8 boards, 7 assists, and four steals. And Luka got his, all right. He nearly got a triple-double with 32-9-9.

The Lakers’ game plan was to simply have “everyone else” beat them when they kept sending a second man towards Luka. I wasn’t too fond of that strategy but it paid off in the first half. Still, the Mavs were getting some clean looks; they were just cold as ice. Mavs were 5 for 22 in the first half from three. You can do the math on how they did in the second half, though.

“There are still the mainstays like Tim Hardaway, Jr. (can still put in great scoring games and puts up a ton of threes)…”

Yup. Tim Hardaway, Jr. was certainly capable of doing something like he did in the third quarter. He scored 16 of his 26 points in the Mavs’ hefty third quarter (4/5 from three in the period; 6/14 overall from three in the game). We all know how much the Lakers love the third quarter. But the strategy of doubling Luka backfired in a huge way for the Lakers in the second half. Hardaway and the Mavs did make some ridiculous threes in that period but when you’re hot, you’re hot.

The Lakers had the most awful third quarter in a season full of bad third quarters. L.A. was leading, 54-43, at the half. Then the Mavericks proceeded to dump 51 points in the third. 51 points. That even exceeded their first half output. Mavs made 9 for 13 from behind the arc in the third period. The Lakers? They only scored 21 points. An 11-point lead turned into a 19-point deficit just like that.

I understand the roster construction isn’t great for the Lakers but it is baffling to me on why head coach Darvin Ham would double or triple down on small line-ups. At one point, Lakers trotted out an all-guard line-up on the floor while trying to rally in the fourth quarter. I don’t even know who would play the center at this case but they had Dennis Schröder, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV, Russell Westbrook, and Austin Reaves all out at the same time. And Reaves was the tallest at 6’5″. I felt like every Mav on the floor at that point was taller than Reaves.

Anyway, LeBron James scored 38 points to keep his 30-point streak going; he’s at 7 straight games now. Russell Westbrook scored 17 while Austin Reaves went for 16. The team stats on the surface weren’t too bad compared to the Mavs except for the glaring three-point difference (Mavs had 9 more threes for a +27) and the assists (Mavs had a 31-18 advantage). With no Anthony Davis, there’s even less margin for error for the Lakers.

The Lakers have lost four in a row and remember that this was only the first game of a five-game road trip. They have a back-to-back in Florida next. At 13-20, they’re now at 13th place although they’re still only three games behind 10th place Minnesota. Still, the bottom is becoming more and more clear for them in the competitive Western Conference and time is running out faster than they realize.

Merry Christmas indeed.