Dallas Mavericks Win Again, Beat Lakers

The Dallas Mavericks have their first winning streak of the season after losing the first 5 games. This time against a streaking Los Angeles Lakers team in LA.

After a really scary start to the season where the Mavericks couldn’t seem to buy a win, Dallas has grabbed their 2nd consecutive win against a reasonable opponent. This win over LA may not look great to the naked eye, but the Lakers were streaking before they played Dallas tonight.

The game was incredibly offensive (not surprising considering the Lakers lead the league in pace), but was definitely controlled by Dallas for the most part. Mavs win the game 108-97 behind a great team performance.

The Dallas Mavericks went with an 8-man rotation for the entire game tonight, including Dorian Finney-Smith getting his first NBA start in only his 7th career NBA game. Harrison Barnes led the way for Dallas with 31 points on 11-18 shooting. Seth Curry also had a big night with 23 points.

Every Mavs player scored in the game and played at least 20 minutes. Dallas shot at an impressive clip of 52.4% from the field and 43.5% from three. LA was 48.7% and 38.5%, respectively. The Mavs also had an impressive 11 steals and 4 blocks on the night.

Here are 3 positive takeaways from the Dallas Mavericks game against the LA Lakers.

Seth Curry is in the Building

Seth Curry had a season high 23 points on 9-15 shooting and it couldn’t have come soon enough. After a lot of speculation on his real abilities, Curry delievered scoring in a variety of ways inside and outside.

Curry is a great shooter and is learning his ways on the defensive end as well. Be ready for a jump in his minutes and production very soon. Mavs fans will be Curry fans by the end of the year, and I don’t mean Steph.

Harrison Barnes Brings a New Element

Harrison Barnes is honestly a physical specimen that the Mavericks have not had the luxury of having in a very long time. His length and basketball mind make him a threat on each end of the court.

Before this season, HB had one game over 30 points in his career. As of tonight he has 3 on the season and 2 back to back. This is becoming more and more obvious that Barnes is no fluke. Be ready for a potential All-Star season from the wing from UNC.

Scoring Streaks are a Good Sign for Dallas

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The Dallas Mavericks had a few big scoring streaks tonight at different times that really changed the pace of the game. These streaks of 10 points or more are really promising for Dallas. These long stretches show that the Mavericks are putting together full possessions consecutively against good teams.

Doing that against a high pace team like the Lakers means the Mavs are playing both ends of the floor effectively. The defensive side is causing bad shots and turnovers, while the other end is running the offense and finding the hot hand. This is a great sign.

The Dallas Mavericks put together one of the most complete games for the team in possibly years and did so without the assistance of our hero, Dirk Nowitzki. This is a great sign for Dallas and they look to continue that tomorrow against the Golden State Warriors.