(CNN Philippines, January 11) — The Los Angeles (L.A.) Lakers rolled to their seventh straight victory after beating the Dallas Mavericks, 129-114, Saturday at the American Airlines Travel Center.
L.A. came out with guns ablazing as it established an 18-point advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The Lakers continued to control the tempo and further extended their lead to 21 points going into the halftime break.
The Mavericks went on a 10-2 run in the third period to trim the deficit to a manageable distance.
Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle was thrown out of the match for continuous complaining at the 9:49 mark of the fourth canto.
L.A., however, just would not step off the gas as it maintained a safe cushion in the final frame.
Kyle Kuzma dropped 26 points and six rebounds for the Lakers. They improved their record to 31-7 and strengthened their grip on the top spot in the Western Conference.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. They fell to 23-15 in the team standings.
L.A. will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 12. On the other hand, Dallas hosts the Philadelphia 76ers on the same day.
LeBron James powered the Lakers with 35 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists. He also moved up in the league’s all-time field goals list (1,197), overtaking Michael Jordan (1,192) at the fourth spot.
