The Los Angeles Lakers had been shutting down the Dallas Mavericks for many of the first half on Tuesday. Then three straight Klay Thompson triples erased their lead.
With 2:43 remaining within the first half, Thompson made three-pointers on 4 straight Mavericks possessions, his scoring surge solely slowed by an out-of-bounds turnover by Thompson on one of many possessions. It sparked an 11-0 Dallas run that ended the half and left the Mavs with a 55-50 halftime lead.
Thompson has made the fifth-most three-pointers in NBA historical past, so this type of sharpshooting was not shocking, besides to the Lakers, who nonetheless left Thompson large open within the nook for his third three even after he’d drained two triples in a row.
Taking part in with out Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks efficiently slowed down the tempo of the sport. However additionally they took benefit of the Lakers’ tendency to take their time getting again on protection.
On the ultimate play of the primary half, the Lakers keyed on Thompson behind the arc. On the similar time, Anthony Davis jogged again slowly on protection. The mix of the protection shading in direction of Thompson and Davis being out of place let Spencer Dinwiddie get an uncontested dunk to finish the 11-0 run.
Thompson does not want a lot to get open, however the Lakers’ in any other case stable protection must cease the previous Splash Brother or they’re in peril of being washed away.
