The Dallas Mavericks are looking to halt their longest losing streak in four seasons as they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, in the second night of a back-to-back.
Having lost five straight games, the Mavericks aim to avoid matching their worst stretch since a six-game losing streak from Jan. 23 to Feb. 1, 2021.
Dallas has struggled with a 1-5 record since losing superstar Luka Doncic to a left calf strain on Christmas Day. Doncic, who leads the team in points (28.1), rebounds (8.3), and assists (7.8), will be re-evaluated at the end of January.
Adding to the Mavericks’ woes, it was announced before their 119-104 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday that Kyrie Irving would be sidelined for at least a week due to a bulging disk in his back. Irving is the team’s second-leading scorer with 24.3 points and 4.9 assists per game.
In Monday’s loss, center Daniel Gafford (11.7 points, 6.0 rebounds per game) sprained his left ankle and left the game after playing eight minutes. Mavericks’ head coach Jason Kidd expects Gafford to miss some time.
The Mavericks will likely rely on Klay Thompson (14.2 points per game) and P.J. Washington (12.8 points per game) to navigate this challenging stretch. Washington led Dallas with 17 points on Monday, while Naji Marshall added 16 points and Thompson had 15.
The Lakers had won seven of their last nine games before Sunday’s 119-115 loss to the Houston Rockets. Despite outscoring the Rockets 66-52 in the second half, Los Angeles trailed by as many as 22 points and played from behind from the 3:49 mark of the first quarter.
Anthony Davis recorded 30 points and 13 rebounds, raising his team-leading averages to 26.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. Davis also had five blocks, ranking third in the NBA with 2.2 blocks per game, behind Victor Wembanyama’s 4.0 and Walker Kessler’s 2.5.
LeBron James contributes 24.0 points per game for the Lakers, followed by Austin Reaves’ 18.4 points per game.
This will be the first meeting between Dallas and Los Angeles this season. The Mavericks have won seven of their last nine games against the Lakers since March 2022. The Mavericks will visit Los Angeles on Feb. 25 before hosting the Lakers again on April 9.
