Sometimes the best way to ignite a dormant offense is with a stingy defense. In the case of the Dallas Mavericks, they appear to have it the other way around.
The Mavericks will try to override their leaky defense with a high-octane offense when they visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Dallas is allowing an NBA 24th-best 120.4 points a game. The Mavericks, in turn, are scoring 122.8 points a game, which is second-most in the league.
“Until we can understand and be connected on the defensive end, then we’ll be able to make strides, but right now, our best defense is our offense,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “If we aren’t scoring 130, it’s hard to win,”
The Mavericks surrendered more than their season average in their past two games — both losses.
The Milwaukee Bucks shot 52.1 percent from the floor in a 132-125 win against Dallas on Saturday.
The Mavericks returned home from the four-game trip and faced the Sacramento Kings, who shot a season-high 53.3 percent in a 129-113 victory on Sunday.
“I think we’ve just got to get better at our defense,” Mavericks star Luka Doncic said.
After playing five games in eight days, Dallas had two days between games before heading to Los Angeles to play the Lakers. The Mavericks play the Clippers in the same building on Saturday night.
“We can complain about the schedule, about the time, about the floor, whatever we want to complain about,” Kidd said. “We’ve got to play the game, and we’ve got to be pros about it. It’s about energy and effort and attitude.”
The Lakers are facing a quick turnaround following a 131-99 win against the visiting Utah Jazz on Tuesday night in group play of the NBA in-season tournament.
A sizable second-half lead allowed veterans LeBron James and Anthony Davis to head to the bench late in the third quarter and remain there.
James, who came in averaging 34.4 minutes, played 24, and Davis, who came in averaging 35.7, played 29.
“The good thing is we’re home, we can sleep in our beds, get some food, don’t have to travel, but it’s a team that’s playing really well coming into (Wednesday) and it’s going to be another tough one for us,” Davis said. “Getting a chance to be able to sit out in the fourth quarter and start preparing for (Wednesday) feels good.”
Davis led Los Angeles with 26 points and 16 rebounds, his third straight double-double and 11th in the past 13 games.
“In order for us to be successful, I have to be very aggressive,” Davis said. “That’s what I tried to do (Tuesday) night, the other night, (Wednesday), the rest of the season.”
James is also playing well in several areas, particularly his perimeter shooting. He came into Tuesday’s game shooting 39.7 percent from 3-point distance this season, compared to 34.5 for his career, and he shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
The Lakers lost starting small forward Cam Reddish in the first quarter to groin soreness on Tuesday. Coach Darwin Ham said after the game he was still being evaluated.
Max Christie started the second half and finished with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Max could be really prominent in the rotation come the next game, so it’s good to see him get extended minutes,” Ham said.
–Field Level Media