Despite a scoring surge from Gabe Vincent, the Lakers couldn’t hold on, falling 121-94 to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Vincent scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half. He also dished out three assists. Rui Hachimura ended with 19 points and three rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Jarred Vanderbilt pitched in with five points, seven rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes.
He did not return to the game in the second half due to a left quad contusion suffered in the first half.
R.J. Davis had 10 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Jaxson Hayes put up 12 points with 10 rebounds and four assists. Dallas had their usual players, minus Kyrie Irving, while Los Angeles was without a few players, [including Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves](/lakers-injury-report/97470/lakers-injury-report-luka-doncic-preseason-mavericks-austin-reaves).
It was the Vincent show early as he opened the game on fire, drilling five straight 3-pointers. He was also fouled from beyond the arc, completing the four-point play.
Vincent quickly became the first Laker in double figures, putting up 18 points in just five minutes, while Hayes was the only other Laker to score with four.
Cooper Flagg scored on a couple of buckets for four points. The Lakers’ offensive barrage cooled off, opening the door for a 9-0 Mavericks run. Los Angeles managed to halt some of the surge, but defensive lapses kept Dallas within striking distance.
LA ended the first up by four.
The second quarter started with a jump shot from Flagg, who was now at nine points for the half. Vanderbilt knocked down a corner three, and he wasn’t just scoring; he was doing the dirty work again with rebounds and assists.
Hachimura reached double figures after scoring nine points in the quarter.
Dallas was on a two-minute scoring drought, allowing LA to build a 14-point lead with 4:52 left until halftime. PJ Washington cut the drought with a layup.
Hachimura kept the Lakers rolling, adding another four points as Los Angeles maintained complete control of the game. Vincent drained his sixth 3-pointer out of 10 attempts in the half. At halftime, the purple and gold were up by 13.
LA’s second half began with Hachimura still red hot, scoring on a couple of buckets. Dallas did slowly chip away at the lead to make it a seven-point game.
Former Laker Anthony Davis was having a relatively quiet game but was in double figures with 14 points.
The Lakers’ defense did keep the Mavericks shooting a rough 19% from three-point range. Much of the rest of the quarter was Dallas continuing to make it a close affair. LA ended the third with a 3-pointer from Davis, but Christian Koloko fouled AD, who then converted on one free throw.
Los Angeles went into the final frame up by two.
Dallas opened the final period scoring eight straight points to take a lead of five. It forced the Lakers to call a timeout. Out of the break, Dalton Knecht connected on a jump shot.
That was the last good thing that happened, as the Mavericks took complete control and built a double-digit lead.
What can we take away from this game? The fact that preseason is almost over, and we won’t have to endure cardio minutes like what we saw in the second half, much longer.
**_You can follow Karin on Twitter at_** [**_@KarinAbcarians_**](https://twitter.com/KarinAbcarians)**_._**